Mementos
by Diane Long
Summary: This Series follows GHOST IN THE MACHINE
1. Default Chapter

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Mementos

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By Diane Long

This takes place at some point after "Ghost in the Machine". Ryoko and Tenchi are together and Washu has devised a way for Ryoko to process all of those regained memories. It is an electronic scrapbook that helps Ryoko organize her memories. As she makes a conscious effort to relive a memory, it goes into the scrapbook for storage, allowing Ryoko to create a sort of database for herself. Some of the memories will be delightful, and some will be dark. Join Ryoko as she rediscovers her past.

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Chapter One

Deep within a sophisticated laboratory, a bespectacled young man with long pale hair was squinting into a microscope. He didn't look up as a door creaked open and a young girl, maybe two years of age with short, spiky hair toddled inside. The dimness of the lab made her pale teal dress look like a deep green.

"Whatcha doin'?" she asked, standing up on her tiptoes, peering at him with large, innocent eyes.

"Cloning Masu cells," he responded with tired patience.

"Why?"

"It's part of my dissertation. I have to do it."

"Why?"

"So I can graduate."

"Why?"

"So I can become one of the greatest scientific geniuses in the universe."

"Nu-uh. That's mommy."

He sighed. "There can be more that just one." His veneer of patience was slipping.

"Nu-uh."

"Can you just leave now?" he asked pointing to the door.

"Nu-uh!" She grinned and started clambering on to a stool so she could reach the delicate instruments on the table. With a deft movement and a grin, she grabbed a pair of pliers and began banging them against a centrifuge.

Gritting his teeth, the student pressed the button on his lab intercom. "Professor," he whined. "Will you please come and collect your daughter?" He clicked the button again. "Hello?"

The girl giggled and spun the stool seat, still waving the pliers around. "Washu's busy!"

"Little Ryoko!" an adult Washu scolded as she came through the door. "How many times have I told you to call me 'mom'? The beautiful redheaded scientist, who was thousands of years old but could pass for 25, chuckled and scooped her daughter into her arms, removing the pliers from her as she did so.

Ryoko counted on her stubby fingers. She frowned and held up all ten digits. "More than this!"

Looking amused, Washu cast her gaze to Kagato who was worriedly inspecting his centrifuge for damage. "I'm sorry she disturbed you, Kagato. Was it more 'why' and 'nu-uh'?"

"Yes, and attacking my poor equipment," he groaned. "Again."

Washu shook her head, still grinning. "She likes you. Don't you honey?"

Ryoko stilled and contemplated her mother's statement. In a lightning fast change of mood, she covered her eyes with her little hands and twisted in her mother's arms so she could bury her face in Washu's chest. 

"And now she is shy," Washu observed with a dry tone. "Kids." 

Kagato couldn't help but return the smile. "She likes me?" He didn't really get along with most people.

"Nu-uh!" came a muffled protest.

Washu and Kagato broke into laughter, with Washu stroking the soft spikes of Ryoko's hair and Kagato patting her on the back reassuringly.

Washu peered over Kagato's shoulder and inspected his workstation. "Seriously, did she damage anything?"

"I don't think so. I think she just put a few dents in the casing of the centrifuge," he said with a bemused smile. "I'm glad she likes me, but her attentions are a little rough."

Washu placed a kiss on the crown of Ryoko's head. "Yeah, I'm working on that with her. Just remember that I'll fix or replace anything she breaks."

"Was gentle!" Ryoko protested.

Washu sighed. "She doesn't understand how strong she is."

Kagato leaned against the high edge of his workbench. "Well, at least she isn't tearing the doors off the hinges anymore," he said referring to the consequences of Ryoko learning how to walk. 

"Yes, but I want her to be able to pass as a normal humanoid. She has to learn to control herself," Washu muttered.

"Sensei," Kagato began carefully. "She is two years old. Give her time."

"Hmmm." Washu pondered. "Anyway, I actually sent Ryoko down here to give you something." She jostled her daughter lightly. "Did you give it to him?"

Ryoko shook her head, her face firmly pressed into Washu's bosom.

"Enough of the shy routine," Washu said setting Ryoko on her feet.

Ryoko turned around and stuck her tongue out at Kagato, who returned the gesture solemnly.

"Go on now," Washu encouraged. "Give it to him."

"No, Washu!"

Washu cleared her throat and arched an eyebrow.

"No, mommy!"

Kagato hid a chuckled behind his hand.

"Try it one more time, kiddo," Washu said sternly.

The young girl sighed and pulled a much-folded piece of paper out of her dress and held it out for Kagato. He sunk to his knees, putting himself at her eye level as he unfolded the paper.

It was a childish drawing depicting stick figure representations of Washu, Kagato and Ryoko all holding hands and walking under three yellow suns and fluffy clouds.

"Did you draw this?" Kagato asked smiling into Ryoko's eyes.

She nodded and stuck a thumb in her mouth.

Washu absently removed the thumb and beamed at Kagato. "Isn't she amazing? Her sensory integration is developing just as we had hoped. She drew that all by herself."

Kagato smiled and used a magnet to stick the picture to the splash-shield behind his Bunsen burner. "That's great news. All seems in order then."

"So far," Washu agreed. "Want to hook her up to the MRI and see how her white matter is developing?" she asked excitedly.

Ryoko's face screwed up and big tears began splashing onto her cheeks. "Don't like it! Scary!" she wailed.

Washu fell to her knees joining Kagato at Ryoko's eye level. "Aww, come on honey. Just for a little bit?"

Ryoko stamped her foot. "Washu is mean!"

Kagato watched the exchange with wide eyes. "I wonder if those emotional pathways work too well professor."

"Of course they do! I made them," Washu sputtered obviously hurt by Ryoko's comment. "I'm sorry little Ryoko. I didn't know it scared you so much." She wrapped her arms around her daughter and comforted her with a hug.

Ryoko sniffed. "It's too loud!" 

Kagato rocked back onto his heels. "Ahhhh. That makes sense. Her hearing is very acute, as you know professor. If she can hear Brownian motion, then the magnetic waves must be very loud indeed."

Washu pondered. "That makes sense. I'll have to take care of that before we scan her." She tilted her head and cast a look to Kagato. "Ever since she started developing language this has gotten a whole lot more interesting."

Kagato got to his feet and brushed off his pants. "Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?"

"Depends. Ask it and we'll see," Washu said amiably as she crouched there holding her daughter.

"Do you see her more as a daughter or an experiment? I can't always tell."

Washu's lips quirked into a mysterious smile as she got to her feet. "Both. What child isn't an experiment?"

She took Ryoko's hand and started for the door. "We are going for some ice cream now. Want to come?"

***

Ryoko sighed as she finished setting the memory into the electronic pages of the scrapbook. This was the best way for her to organize all of her reacquired memories, but it meant reliving them, and that wasn't always easy. 

"'Yoko? Was that real?" Tenchi asked softly. At Ryoko's request, he was sharing these memories with her. They were dressed for bed and snugly wrapped in bathrobes as they sat leaning against the headboard of Tenchi's bed. Steaming cups of tea sat forgotten on his nightstand.

Ryoko coughed and swallowed. "Yes," she answered thickly. "That's how it used to be."

"I never thought Kagato was ever so…" Tenchi trailed off at a loss for words.

"Normal? Yes." Ryoko smiled as her eyes reddened with withheld tears. "We loved him. That's what made his betrayal even worse."

Tenchi slid an arm around her shoulders. "No wonder you have such a hard time trusting people. I had no idea it all started like this. I thought you already distrusted him when he abducted you."

"By that point I did. But this was before he started changing," she answered softly. "We were a little family then." She leaned into him, taking a deep breath, obviously trying not to cry.

"Do you really need to put yourself through this?" Tenchi asked gesturing at the scrapbook.

"Yes I do, my Tenchi. I need to do this if I want to gain as much as my old self back as I can."

"Okay," he agreed doubtfully.

"Having you here helps. Here comes the next one," she said pressing a button on the scrapbook and concentrating.

***

The light and sounds of Washu's lab whirred away in their customary symphony of color and vibration. Deep pockets of shadow were dotted with brighter lights indicating a work or living space. A four-year-old Ryoko stood in a pool of light near the small refrigerator that boor a large sign exclaiming "FOOD ONLY! NO CULTURES, BODY FLUIDS, OR CHEMICALS!" A glass of juice in hand, Ryoko stared at the sign, simultaneously trying to read it and enjoying the pretty color of red the letters were written in. Her hair was spikier now, and she wore a miniature version of Washu's uniform.

Crunch!

Ryoko looked down at her hand and the fragments of glass and grape juice that dripped from between her fingers. She had done it again. She craned her head to see if her mother had noticed her mistake. Yellow eyes met with bright green eyes. Both sets winced.

"Oh Ryoko, not again!"

The little girl dropped to her knees and started picking up the bigger shards of glass. " I didn't mean to," she said plaintively.

Washu left her computer and walked over to help her daughter with the clean up. "I know you didn't little Ryoko. You just have to keep trying to be more gentle," she said throwing the pieces of glass into a handy subspace pocket then throwing away those Ryoko had already picked up.

Ryoko nodded her shoulder length silvery hair bobbing with her movement. "I do try," she asserted backing away as Washu wiped up the juice with a rag.

"And you have been doing much better," Washu agreed. "Your gross motor control is within normal parameters. We just need to refine your fine motor control."

"I have a motor?" Ryoko asked, looking down and patting her belly. "Where is it?"

Washu smiled gently and took Ryoko's hand. "I didn't mean that. I meant…." She paused trying to find words the young girl would understand. " I meant to say I want to help your fingers be more gentle."

"Oh!" Ryoko said, wiggling her fingers. "So I don't break things!"

"Exactly," Washu said wryly, thinking of her dwindling crockery supply.

Ryoko's eyes grew bigger and a delighted smile pulled up her features. "Then you won't have to start over! Yay! You won't flip my switch!" Ryoko clapped happily.

A concerned expression knitted Washu's eyes together. "What did you say?"

"I don't want you to turn me off, Washu. I want to stay here," Ryoko said innocently, one finger digging into her ear and the other twisting her shorts. Her cheer was fading into nervousness as she picked up on her mother's tone and body language.

"Turn – turn you off?" What do you mean, Little Ryoko," Washu whispered her dismay adding a treble pitch to her voice.

Ryoko wrinkled her brow. "You know mommy…. Get rid of me." Now both hands were twisting her shorts.

Washu pushed her pale face close to Ryoko's and gripped the juice-laden rag tightly. "I won't ever get rid of you, honey. Where did you get that idea?"

"You get rid of experiments all of the time, mommy. When they don't work, you throw them away." Ryoko backed up a step and looked away, focusing her eyes on a flash of light. As with all children, her attention, and attendant concerns, shifted instantly.

Washu licked her lips and stuttered. "Who … who… who said you were an experiment?"

Ryoko was absorbed with watching a set of flashing blue and yellow lights that were strobing along the sides of one of Washu's many machines. Her eyes opened wider and she started wandering towards the lights.

"Ryoko!" Washu said sharply. "Who said you were an experiment?!"

Ryoko half turned and shrugged, clearly off the topic at this point. "You did, Washu."

"Call me Mom!" Washu all but shouted, causing Ryoko to snap around in surprise. Washu's face spasamed and her anger was replaced with an expression of heartache. "Me? I called you that?" she asked in an anguished whisper. "Oh no." A tear slipped down her cheek.

The flashy lights forgotten in the face of Washu's tears, Ryoko stepped back towards her mother. She wrapped her arms around Washu's leg and squeezed. "Don't cry. I'm sorry."

Washu knelt down and wrapped her arms around Ryoko. "Don't apologize. I'm the one who is sorry."

Ryoko pulled back and gently patted Washu on the cheek, her yellow eyes showing concern and confusion.

"What are you little Ryoko?" Washu asked carefully.

"A Masu/Jurian hybrid construct, prototype A," Ryoko recited carefully.

"No," Washu corrected gently. "You are a little girl. My little girl" She smoothed a lock of Ryoko's hair. "And I love you."

"But little girls can't be turned off," Ryoko reasoned simplistically.

"Neither can you," Washu pointed out gently.

"Yes I can. All you need to do is remove all of my gems and disconnect my limbic system from the rest of my central nervous system." Ryoko was clearly reciting something she had heard. The language was way above her current usage and comprehension.

Washu drew in a sharp breath. "Who told you that?"

Ryoko wriggled, trying to get free of Washu's embrace. This game was getting boring. "You and Kagato talk really loud sometimes mommy."

Washu let her go with a sad smile. "Then we will need to remember there are little ears listening in the future, won't we?"

Ryoko looked up at her mother and grinned, swaying from side to side for no real reason. "I'm thirsty!"

"Want some more juice?" Washu asked looking bemused at Ryoko's sudden change of topic.

"Yes!"

"What do we say?" Washu prompted.

"Give it to me right now!" Ryoko bellowed, then fell into a fit of giggles.

"Are you sure its such a good idea to teach her bad habits like that, professor?" Kagato asked, coming into the lab.

Washu shrugged as she poured Ryoko another glass of juice. "Aw, she's just a kid!"

Ryoko took the proffered glass from he mother and shouted. "Yeah! I'm a little girl now!"

"Just now?" Kagato looked at Washu in surprise.

Washu rubbed her temples and shook her head. "We need to watch what we say. Someone has been paying more attention than we thought. Ix-nay on the periment-exay."

"Ah. Yes," Kagato agreed.

Ryoko slurped down her juice noisily. "And you can't turn me off again!" she announced to Kagato.

"Again?" Washu raised an eyebrow.

Kagato laughed nervously. "Again?" he repeated.

Washu looked down at her child. "What are you talking about?"

Ryoko handed the cup back to her mother. "I want a pet!" she shouted looking at Kagato with greedy eyes.

Washu looked back to Kagato, a shadow of doubt in her eyes. "Kagato. What is she talking about?"

He rolled his eyes. "The pet? You know…. I let it slip about the cabbit. She's been like this every time she sees me now."

Washu shook her head. "No the other thing."

He shrugged, looking mystified. As he adjusted his glasses so they rested comfortably on the bridge of his nose, he narrowed his eyes in thought. "Hmmm. Maybe she thinks I turn her off when she takes a nap."

Eyes clearing, Washu laughed. "I can see how she would think that."

"I want a pet!" Ryoko demanded, tugging on the hem of Washu's jacket.

Ignoring Ryoko with the ease born of long practice, Washu finished off Ryoko's juice. "So how is your little project going? Hmmmm? Going to graduate this millennium?" she asked Kagato.

"A pet! A pet! A pet!"

Kagato shrugged. "It's getting there. I should have the document ready for you to preread within the month."

"Are you listening to me?" a tiny voice screamed.

Washu looked down. "No." She looked back to Kagato. "That is very encouraging. I'm sure it will only need a few revisions. You almost write as well as I do."

"I WANT A PET!"

Still successfully ignoring the rants below him Kagato bowed his head. "I could never be as good as you professor."

"That's true, but you could come pretty close," Washu teased.

Ryoko threw herself on the floor and began screaming in earnest, pounding her tiny hands and feet into the soft rubber flooring. "I wannnnt a –a –a –a pe- pe- pet!" she hiccuped on the edge of hyperventilation. 

Washu cast a sound proofing barrier over her tantruming child and removed a bottle of analgesic from a subspace pocket. "We wouldn't have this problem if you hadn't told her about Ryo-Ohki before it was done." She popped the lid off the bottle and swallowed two pills dry.

Kagato grinned. "I guess she just needs to learn to wait."

***

Ryoko leaned against the headboard of the bed, and hugged herself. "I remember that so clearly now." Her bangs hid her eyes as she tilted her chin towards her chest.

Tenchi reached out and ran his finger tips across the back of her hand. "What did you mean by 'again'? Did he really… you know…." he trailed off uncertainly.

Ryoko peered up at him through her bangs. "Turn me off?" she asked coolly.

Tenchi looked at her with worry, not liking the tone of her voice. "Had he done that to you?"

Ryoko's nostrils flared and she nodded curtly. She used one hand to gather up her long hair and hold it away from her neck. She turned her head and used the other hand to point to a pale line of discolored flesh that ran along the crease where the base of her head joined her neck.

"What am I looking at?" Tenchi asked uncertainly. 

"Washu never left scars."

"Oh." Tenchi opened his mouth and closed it again. It hurt him to see her hurting like this. "Maybe, maybe you shouldn't put yourself through this."

She opened her hand and let the hair fall back around her neck. "You have already said that."

"I know. But Ryoko, I love you. I hate to see you get torn up like this," he said with feeling.

"Tenchi…."

"This is terrible! I don't see why you have to do this!"

"Tenchi!" Ryoko snapped. "How can you say that? You have all of your memories. You don't know what it's like to have your past be a void."

He took her hand and squeezed. "My memories aren't nightmares."

She squeezed back. "Don't lie to yourself. What about when your mother died?"

He refused to be shocked into silence. "But most of my memories are good ones!"

"I have good memories too Tenchi."

"Then have Washu filter them or something," he asked desperately. "Haven't you been hurt enough?"

"But don't you get it, Tenchi? Sometimes the good is mixed with the bad. I might miss something that makes me ME if I were to just look at the good ones." Her voice softened as she continued, "I'm still trying to figure out who I am."

Tenchi kissed her cheek. "I just worry honey. That's all." He nuzzled her neck.

She leaned into him and relaxed. "I know and thank you. Look, this next one is better."

"Hmmm?"

She started the scrapbook's recorder with a wistful grin. "This is the one that I wanted to remember the most."

***

Drafts of a warm summer wind toyed with the curtains of the Hakubi living quarters at the Galaxy Academy. Washu was dressed casually in a sundress as she worked on her computer at an old-fashioned wooden desk. Nearby, a child-sized table covered in newspaper sported a lump of clay that looked vaguely like a tailed quadruped. A five-year-old Ryoko had abandoned her art project to stand near her mother.

"I don't like crabs!" Ryoko pulled on her jumper in disgust, leaving clay colored handprints on it. The dress was a pale yellow and printed with a profusion of blue and green crabs. The youngster scowled at her mother.

"What's wrong with crabs?" Washu asked, mystified. "Crabs are great!" She pushed back from her desk and looked down at her daughter. "What's all the fuss about, little Ryoko?"

"I like cats," Ryoko pointed out. "Black cats!"

"Are you bored? Is that what this is about?" Washu saved a calculation on her computer and opened a desk drawer. "Do you need a new mentally stimulating activity already? Geeze! That clay didn't hold your attention very long." She held up a foam puzzle of a cell and its components. "How about this? Don't forget the reticular formation this time!" 

"No! I want a new dress. With kitties on it!"

"There is nothing wrong with that one," Washu said firmly. "End of discussion. Now go play." She held out the puzzle.

Ryoko's small hand purposefully hovered over a crab shaped dress button. "Don't make me do it," she parroted her mother.

Washu frowned. "I know somebody who wants a time-out."

Ryoko undid the button with a defiant smile.

"Don't test me Ryoko. You know what happens when you do that."

Ryoko grinned. "Your face turns as red as your hair mommy, that's what happens!" Another button came undone.

"You know what I mean," Washu said flatly.

Ryoko slid her arms inside of the dress's sleeves.

"I'm going to count to three…." Washu warned. "One…."

"Three!" Ryoko shouted and let the dress fall around her ankles. With a wild laugh she pivoted on her bare toes and ran out of their apartment and into the hall.

Washu growled and started to get up, only to sit back down as Kagato came in holding a naked Ryoko upside down in his arms.

"Missing something?" he asked with wry humor.

"My sanity," Washu mumbled.

Ryoko looked up at her mother and waved merrily, long forelocks of hair swinging as Kagato continued into the room.

"She only does it for attention you know," he added, setting Ryoko on her feet.

She wobbled around as the blood that had rushed to her head made its way back down into he rest of her body.

Washu nodded tiredly and tapped a key on her computer. Ryoko was wearing a new purple jumpsuit in an instant.

"Kitties!" the youngster crowed looking down at the felines printed upon the fabric.

"And you spoil her entirely to much," Kagato drawled.

Washu eyed her student. "Like you don't, 'Mr. Chocolate Cake for Breakfast'. Ryoko, you know the drill. Hop to it," she commanded.

Sighing, the young girl fetched a floating cushion and trudged over to the corner. She adjusted her pillow to the right height and hopped on to it and stared at the wall. She sighed again, very loudly.

Washu smiled at her daughter's theatrics. "So is it ready then?" she asked Kagato.

"You need to be more consistent with her professor. No wonder she has so many behavior problems," Kagato murmured with a hint of disapproval.

Washu frowned. "Just because you are a junior faculty member now doesn't mean you know how to raise a child. I asked you, is it ready?"

"Forgive me. Yes, it is."

"Let's go then," Washu said briskly ushering him out of the room. "Little Ryoko, don't you dare move until we come back." Washu waited. "What do we say?"

"Yes, ma'am," Ryoko intoned with the energy of a wet noodle.

"That's better." The door clicked as Washu and Kagato left the room.

Ryoko sat and stared at the wall for what felt like weeks, when in fact it had only been a few hours. She sniffed. Life was so unfair. First it was crabs, crabs, crabs. Crabs on the pillows, crabs shaped like soap, crab hair barrettes, crab sheets and blankets. Did she have to have crabs on her clothing too? What was wrong with a nice little kitty cat sometimes? Crabs were her mom's favorite and Ryoko was tired of them. If Washu made her eat crab shaped macaroni and cheese one more time she would stop eating forever. Forever!

Ryoko kicked her feet through the air below her cushion. She had been sitting here forever too. Had they forgotten about her? It was getting dark and they had forgotten to leave a light on. She was afraid of the dark. What if they didn't come back before it was dark? She shivered, the room seeming creepier already.

She sniffed. They hated her. Why were they so mean? Maybe she should just run away. She could do it. All she needed was Mr. Jelly Bean and a few energy bars. And some clothes. And some coloring books. And some hot chocolate.

She sniffed again, as the shadows on the wall grew more menacing. But it was dark outside too. Running away wouldn't save her from the dark. A hot tear rolled down her cheek as she became certain she had been abandoned. She cried harder as darkness cloaked the room.

Ryoko jumped as something rustled behind her. "M-momma?" she quavered, all childish bravado gone. "Is that you, momma?" Her tears slowed, but kept coming.

She wasn't supposed to turn around when she was being punished, so she listened to the silence with all of her being, straining to see if there was more of that sound.

She pulled in a tiny gasp as she heard the sound again, imagining all of the monsters from her nightmares come to hurt her.

"Hello?" she called. "Who's there?"

Something fell over nearby.

"Please," she moaned. "Let it be mommy."

Sniff. Sniff. Sniff.

Ryoko hid her head in her arms. It smelled her. It was coming to get her. She gurgled a false scream when she felt something touch her leg.

"Miya?"

She looked over her arms to see s strange little creature with long ears and whiskers standing up with one paw touching her leg. "Oh! Who're – who're you?"

"Miyaaaa!" it cried.

Ryoko wiped away her tears with the back of her hands. "Hi," she said curiously. "You don't look like a monster."

The little creature sneezed and blinked at her. 

"You're cute!"

"Miya! Miya! Miya!" it agreed.

Ryoko giggled.

The little creature tensed the muscles in its back haunches and leapt into Ryoko's lap. It was so tiny that it fit in her lap perfectly, just as if it had been made just for her. She laughed again, happy for the company. She scratched the furry creature behind the ears and earned a happy purr from it. It nuzzled into her body and seemed content to stay there.

Ryoko bent down and kissed it on the nose. "I'm glad to meet you," she whispered.

::Me too.:: it whispered into her mind.

Ryoko started and looked into the little creature's eyes. ::You talk just like mom!::

The creature nodded and winked.

::What's your name?:: Ryoko asked.

::Ryo-Ohki.::

"That sounds like my name!" Ryoko giggled out loud.

"Ya!" the fuzz ball agreed.

Ryoko patted the cabbit's head and smiled. "You are my new friend!" she announced.

Ryo-Ohki butted her head against Ryoko's chin and sent a pulse of love down the link she shared with Ryoko. The little girl hugged the animal in return, an instant bond forming between the two of them.

The overhead light snapped on. "Oh Little Ryoko, I'm sorry! I forgot all about you. Are you okay in here?" Asked Washu's voice in concerned tones.

Ryoko stiffened and mentally told Ryo-Ohki to be quiet.

Washu mistook this for petulance. "I'm sorry sweetie. It got dark before I realized it. I know you hate the dark." Washu's voice was getting closer. "My experiment got away, and I went looking for her and I lost track of the time."

"Miya!" Ryo-Ohki chirruped.

"Shhh!" hushed Ryoko.

"What?" Washu asked in amazement. She extended her thoughts towards Ryoko's cushion and caused it to turn around. 

As her cushion rotated 180 degrees Ryoko held tighter to her new friend and defiantly met her mother's eyes.

"So this is where you have been, huh?" Washu said with a warm chuckle. "Let's get you back to your cage."

"No!" Ryoko said stubbornly. "She is my new friend. Ryo-Ohki wants to stay with me."

Washu paused. "How did you know her name?"

::She told me! Just like this!:: the child informed her mother.

::Ryoko… friend!:: the cabbit added making the link a three way connection.

"I had no idea," Washu said weakly, dropping into a chair. "You two are linked."

Ryoko slid off of her cushion and stood facing Washu as the cabbit scrambled to perch on top of her head. "She doesn't know a lot of words yet, but I can talk for her!"

"Linked," Washu repeated.

"And," Ryoko announced. "She wants to sleep in my bed tonight."

"Mew?"

::Shhh!:: Ryoko sent to her new friend. ::Trust me!::

***


	2. 

****

Mementos: Chapter Two

Ryoko brought her bowl into the kitchen and placed it in the dishwasher.

"Thanks Ryoko!" Sasami chirruped, impressed at this show of responsibility and interest in domesticity from the former pirate.

Ryoko smiled at the response. She was finding that if she pitched in with the little things, more people would notice. That made her life easier. And it made Tenchi proud of her. "That was a great dinner, Kiddo."

Sasami blushed and nodded her head in thanks as she neatly folded the dishtowel over the drying rack. "I'm glad you liked it."

Ryoko floated over to the little girl and fondly tucked a blue strand of hair behind the little girl's ear. Sasami was like a sister to her. "Are you finished? I'm going to be showing some of my memories in the living room tonight. Want to watch?"

"Oh boy!" The little girl shouted. "Yes!"

Ryoko laughed and slid her arm around Sasami's shoulders. "It's all set up. Let's go." She steered the young girl into the living room where the rest of the family waited. "That's the last of 'em," she announced settling next to Tenchi on the couch. She leaned forward and pressed a flashing button on her electronic scrapbook. "Here we go!"

***

Illuminated by a pale blue fluorescent light, a seven-year-old Ryoko bit her lip as she carefully painted a small Styrofoam ball a bright yellow. She was hunched over her desk with her acrylic paint set and assorted sizes of balls waiting to be painted. A small radio played the latest top galactic hits and the little girl hummed along. Her hair was caught up in two spiky ponytails and she wore black tights with a loose blue tunic. She had to be very careful, or she would accidentally crush the foam ball or snap her paintbrush. She hadn't had any 'accidents' in a while and wanted to keep it that way.

Ryo-Ohki was crouched on her shoulder and extended a small paw towards the still wet yellow sphere. "Miya?"

Ryoko slid it out of her pet's reach. "No, no. You'll get paint all over your fur. I'll let you smell it if you are very careful," she promised, moving the ball towards the cabbit's nose.

The small animal sniffed and immediately sneezed. She turned her nose up at the sphere with a little "hmpf".

Ryoko laughed. " I knew you wouldn't like it." She carefully placed the sphere on a rack to dry. She was about to speak again when she heard the doors to the main room slide open. "Washu's back!" she shouted at the familiar tickle in the back of her mind.  


"Little Ryoko, "I'm home!" caroled her mother's voice from the living room.

"Mommy!" Ryoko called, pushing her chair back and running out of the room. "You're home!" she cried happily tackling her mother with a hug around her waist. Ryo-Ohki jumped onto Washu's head and meowed her own welcome.

Washu chuckled and threw her coat onto the couch behind her. "Honestly, you think I'd been gone for weeks instead of days!" She joined in the hug. "It's good to see you too, sweetie."

"Miya!"

"I'm glad to see you too," Washu said reaching one hand up to pet the cabbit.

Ryoko bounced back and rocked upon to her toes. "How was Todain? Did you bring me back anything?"

Washu pretended to think. "Todain was wet, slimy, and humid - just what you might expect from a jungle planet. And how about you? Were you good for the 'mommy-bots'?"

Ryoko refused to be distracted. "Did you bring me a present? Did you?"

Washu laughed and spread her fingers into he air before her. "What a greedy child you are! We'll see." As her laptop computer materialized under her fingers, she typed in a key sequence and summoned Ryoko's watchers.

Two robotic miniature versions of Washu appeared on her shoulders. One had a big 'A' on its chest and the other had a big 'B'. "So how was she girls?" Washu asked dryly.

Bot A threw up its arms and proclaimed, "Washu is the greatest! Washu is a genius!"

Washu shook her head with an annoyed smile. " I know that. Was Little Ryoko a good girl?"

Bot A made a quacking sound and lowered its head. 

Washu cleared her throat and raised an eyebrow at her daughter. "Let's try a different approach. Did Ryoko follow instructions?"

"Little Ryoko would not eat her dinner on two occasions," the little robot reported.

Washu raised the other eyebrow. "This doesn't sound good, Ryoko."

"You know I'm a vegetarian mom! The stupid replicator kept making meatloaf!" Ryoko said in her own defense.

"That's fair," Washu agreed.

"Ryoko took three out of four required baths," Bot A continued.

"Well, that's a big improvement," Washu said with a smile. "I thought you smelled better than usual." Washu waved a hand to stall any further reporting. "Sounds like she was pretty good. Did she do anything bad while I was gone?"

Bot A quivered, almost looking scared. "Little Ryoko altered the programming parameters of Bot B."

Washu looked intrigued, as Ryoko paled and swallowed with difficulty. "I thought you were being awfully quiet over there. Speak to me Bot B!"

"Ryoko is the greatest! Ryoko is a genius!" it shouted hopping up and down.

Washu's eyes bulged and her tongue shot out from between her lips. She stayed like that for a moment then toppled backwards, catching herself on the back of the couch. "What was that?"

Bot B hopped onto Ryoko's shoulder and started chanting her name. "You can get out of this one!" it cheered. "You are a genius!"

Hands grasping her abdomen, Washu burst into laughter. "This is great!" She loomed over Ryoko and drew her into her arms. "What a smart idea!" she said, hugging her offspring. "Was it that easy to bypass my security codes?" Washu settled into an easy chair, carrying Ryoko along with her so that she ended up snuggled in her lap.

Ryoko giggled. "No, momma. It was really hard!" The little girl wrapped her arms around Washu's neck and burrowed her face into her shoulder.

Washu sighed contentedly and stroked Ryoko's hair. "Are you gonna tell me how you did it?"

"It's a secret, " Ryoko said firmly.

"Is that so?"

"Yes, because if I tell you, then you'll make it so I can't do it anymore," Ryoko reasoned.

Washu chuckled. "Well, that is sound thinking and I respect that. It's never too early to think about copyright infringements after all!"

Ryoko tightened her grip on Washu's neck. "I'm glad you are home. I missed you."

Washu tightened her grasp and held Ryoko in silence for a few moments, clearly enjoying their bond and closeness. "So how is school?" she asked after a time.

"Its okay," Ryoko answered shortly.

"Just okay?" Washu asked skeptically. "Do they teach you anything at the Academy Elementary Unit?"

Ryoko shrugged. "Well... I'm making a model of our galaxy for my Science Fair project. Want to see it?"

"You bet!" Washu said with excitement, getting up and setting Ryoko on her feet.

Ryoko took Washu's hand and lead her into her bedroom. The pastel colors of violet and powder blue gave the room a feeling of innocence, but the floor covered with crumpled bed linens, toys, books, and juice boxes spoke of strong forces of entropy at play.

"See?" Ryoko said pointing to the mess of spilled acrylic paints on her desk and the assortment of Styrofoam balls both painted and plain. "I'm making it this way."

Washu bit her lip, trying not to scold Ryoko for the state of her room. She would save that for later, as she hated to scold first thing when she returned from business trips. She looked closely at the makings of the model. "Well, honey, this is nice if you like antiques." She summoned her laptop and began typing. "But why stick to Styrofoam when I can get you self contained plasma balls that are correctly scaled to represent the important suns, planets and moons?" In the space between her and Ryoko plasma balls rotated and danced at Washu's command.

"But mom!" Ryoko protested.

"And then, " Washu cackled, "we can put little flashing lights on it to show…."

"NO!" Ryoko shouted and stamped her foot. "No! No! No! I want to do it myself!"

Washu's finger's paused. "Little Ryoko?"

Ryoko put her hands on her hips and looked her mother squarely in the eye. "You always do my projects for me. I want to do this one myself!"

"Oh." Washu's voice faltered and her laptop faded from view. "Can I help you then?"

"No, I want to do this." Ryoko took Washu's hand and tugged her out of the room. "I want to show you I can."

Washu's expressions warred between sadness and pride. Pride won out. "All right then Little Ryoko. Can I give you your present first?"

Ryoko cast her a wary look. "Does this mean I have to let you help me?"

"Of course not! Why would you ask that?"

Ryoko's eyes were guarded for a moment before they cleared into a childish look of greed. "What is it?"

Washu watched her daughter closely for a moment, then shook her head as if to dismiss some suspicion. She then reached into a subspace pocket from her back and pulled out a small basket with a flourish. "Guess what was ripe enough to pick in our garden on Todain?"

"Our strawberries?!" Ryoko squealed.

"You got it! The plants finally reached maturity this year!" 

Ryoko grabbed the basket out of her mother's hands and selected large, ripe berry. She bit into it and closed her eyes in pleasure. "Sweet!" she chirped.

"Just like you sweetie, just like you," Washu said fondly. "Now, about that room…."

***

As the memory ended, Ryoko sat up and stretched. "Mmmm. Strawberries! That sounds really good right now."

"How can you be hungry you bottomless pit? We just ate dinner?" Ayeka teased from an over-stuffed chair.

The entire family laughed as Ryoko blushed at the truth. They were all lounging in the living room, watching Ryoko's memories on the large flat paneled TV.

Katshuhito coughed gently. "Dinner was good, but we did not have dessert. I think Ryoko is on to something."

Tenchi draped an arm around Ryoko's shoulders. "But it's the wrong season for strawberries."

"There might be some strawberry ice-cream in the freezer," Noboyuki mentioned.

Washu snorted. "That old, freezer burned stuff? " She dipped a hand into a dimensional pocket and fished around.

"Washu, wait!" Sasami giggled and bounded over to the scientist. She whispered in her ear and nodded emphatically.

"What a great idea Sasami!" Washu said. "I think I can manage that!" Matching action to words, she drew out a silver platter heaped with large, chocolate dipped strawberries. "Will this do?"

Everyone ooohed and ahhhed their appreciation and helped them selves to the tasty treats.

"So, little Ryoko," Washu said smacking her lips. "Why'd you stop there? I know how this memory ends."

Ryoko closed her eyes and chewed slowly. She opened her eyes and swallowed deliberately. "Because there is a part in the middle you don't know about. And I know it will make you sad."

Washu nodded, listening carefully. "Do you want to show me?"

"I think so. I'd like you to know about some of the… things… that happened."

"All of us?" Washu clarified.

"Yes. It's important," Ryoko whispered.

"Then show us, " Washu encouraged.

Ryoko nodded again and activated her scrapbook device.

***

The young Ryoko sat at her desk threading the brightly painted Styrofoam balls on to wires, a half empty basket of strawberries at her elbow. The green stems were strewn about the floor under her feet, only half of them had found their way into the garbage can.

"He's coming! You better watch out, Ryoko!" Bot B cried running into Ryoko's room waving its arms.

Ryoko's head snapped up and her gentle eyes narrowed just before Kagato swept into her room. He was wearing that cape-thing again. It made him look creepy. 

"Would you please knock?" she asked in irritation.

"Oh, I am sorry Little Ryoko," he purred, coming to stand by her shoulder. "I forgot you are beginning to expect courtesy from your elders. How rude of me."

She cringed. "Please Uncle Kagato, do you have to call me that? It's bad enough that mom does it."

His shoulders shook in a silent laugh that didn't animate his face. "Again, I apologize. I know how you dislike that title. But my dear, you are little."

"Mom says I'll grow when I'm ready," Ryoko said earnestly.

"Indeed you will." He laid a hand on her shoulder, seemingly oblivious to the slight shudder that ran through her small frame as he did so. "So! When you are finished with this – er – charming little project, can you come down to my lab and do me a favor?"

"What kind of favor?" she asked worrying her bottom lip with her teeth.

He smiled indulgently and pulled a bar of chocolate from the inside pocket of his jacket. "All I need for you to do is go to sleep for a while. And in return, you get to eat this."

Ryoko rubbed the base of her head unconsciously. "But I don't like to come down to your lab."

"Oh, now you hurt my feelings, my dear. Why don't you like my lab? It is a very pleasant place."

"It's scary," she said in a thin voice. "And dark."

"I just want to run a few tests. To make sure you are fully operational."

"Test hurt. I – I really don't want to uncle." She turned around and looked up at him. "Please."

"Little Ryoko," Kagato said, leaning closer. "Do it for your mother. You know how it would break her heart if you malfunctioned and she had to turn you off."

"T-turn me off? Mommy wouldn't do that."

"Unless you make her. Do you want to make her turn you off? Are you a bad girl?" he asked with a stern tone.

"No! I'm a good girl!"

"Well then, I will see you downstairs in an hour," he concluded placing the chocolate bar in the basket along with the strawberries.

"Uncle Kagato?" she asked running a hand over the candy bar.

"Yes, Ryoko?"

"Please don't tell mom. She might think I'm broken."

"Don't worry, it's our little secret," he said with a small smile and left the room, the tail of his cape flaring out behind him.

***

The memory ended, playing its last few moments into a sea of silence as those in the Masaki living room watched with distaste.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Washu croaked. "He was starting all the way back then? You were seven." She turned hurt eyes to Ryoko. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Ryoko sighed and leaned into to Tenchi's shoulder. She didn't have the heart to tell Washu that Kagato's tampering had begun much earlier than that. "You know why, Washu."

"You were always so afraid of being turned off. As if you were an overgrown doll with a mechanical turn key," Washu sighed pulling at a twist of her hair.

"And it seems to me that Kagato is the one who put that idea in her head," Tenchi stated in a hushed murmur, rubbing Ryoko's arm.

Ryoko nodded. "Mom, after replaying these memories I think Kagato turned on us way earlier than we thought he did. He was deliberate and planful, making sure he could win."

"Which he did," Washu stated, guilt staining her words. "I was so blind."

"Washu," Tenchi spoke kindly. "That's not fair. When I watch these memories, I see a different story. You are being too hard on yourself."

"That's easy for you to say," Washu stated flatly.

"Yes it is. Because I wasn't in the middle of it all," Tenchi asserted firmly.

"Tenchi is right," Katshuhito agreed. "What teacher expects their student – who is very much like a child and friend them- to turn on them in such a vile way?"

"It's happened before," Washu said.

"Yes, throughout history," Katshuhito agreed. "However, it still is not the normal course of things."

"And mom, Kagato was brilliant, charismatic and insane," Ryoko clarified.

"A perfect sociopath," Katshuhito summed up. "He was too clever to get caught, and that is not your fault."

"Or mine," Ryoko asserted in a timid voice. 

Washu was on her feet and hugging Ryoko before she even intended to move. The traces of guilt in her daughter's voice had attracted her like ferrous metal to a magnet. "Of course not!"

Ryoko hugged back. "Now we have got that cleared up, how about a happy memory?" she asked bravely.

Washu chuckled and wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. "Right. That sounds good," she said settling next to Ryoko on the couch so that her daughter was comfortably sandwiched between the two that loved her the most.

***

The small exhibition hall was bursting with noise and confusion as the Ryoko's entire grade level displayed their science projects to their families and the attending faculty and judges. The room was filled to bursting, and people laughingly worked their way through the crowd to better see the competition or to nab free refreshments.

Ryoko stood by her booth, which displayed a model of the galaxy and a write up of her position on the theories of galaxy formulation. The model was simple and sparkled with glitter, which caught the light as it slowly spun on its central axis from a twist of dental floss tied to the top hook of a coat tree. It didn't look like much when compared to some of the other projects, but she had done it all herself. And really, just because the presentation wasn't as glamorous, it didn't mean the scholarly work was any less superior. The meat of her project was in her written report. The model was merely a visual aide.

Still, it was daunting to look at the flashing lights and almost magical presentations going on around her. The other students didn't seem to have the same issues she did about asking their parents for help. Ryoko stuck her jaw at a stubborn angle. So what? She was the one on high ground here, win or lose. She wrinkled her nose at the thought of losing though. Mom would be very disappointed if she lost, and mom didn't seem to care too much about the means if the end was okay. Ryoko crossed her fingers and hoped she would win. She didn't want to let her mom down. Where was Washu anyway? The judges were half way done with the booth inspection; she might miss the end.

"Here I am!" Washu huffed as she pushed through the crowd and stepped behind the counter of Ryoko's booth. She laid two takeout containers on the counter and wiggled out of her coat. "Sorry I'm late, but I got caught in a crush at the cafeteria."

"Cafeteria?" Ryoko asked with a hint of distaste.

"Don't worry you picky little girl," Washu laughed. "Its 100% vegetarian." She opened her own container and took a big bite of some sort of sandwich.

"But Mo-ohm, they cook with animal fat in the cafeteria."

Washu rolled her eyes and opened Ryoko's container, revealing a pristine salad of dark greens and raisins. "It's a salad, Ryoko. No part of an animal has touched it. Eat."

Still worried about the cafeteria's reputation for dubious food preparation practices, Ryoko stirred the salad with her fork.

"Eat," Washu reminded.

"But what if they cut some meat with the knife they used to chop the lettuce?" Ryoko whined. 

Washu licked her fingers and gave her daughter a serious look. "You have two choices. One, you will eat that salad, or two, you will go hungry."

Ryoko sighed in defeat and took a small bite of the salad. "Three bites?" she asked through a mouthful.

Washu sized up the salad. "Seven normal sized bites."

Frowning, Ryoko set to it.

Now that her child was ingesting nourishment, Washu took a good look at Ryoko's booth. "This is well put together, Little Ryoko. I like the posters and the hand-outs are a nice touch."

"Thanks, mom." Ryoko said through another mouthful.

"Don't talk with food in your mouth," Washu reminded gently, prompting Ryoko to open her mouth all the way and treat her mother to sight of mashed up greens. 

Washu chuckled and shook her head. "You keep that up and you will never get a boyfriend."

"Boys are gross!" Ryoko proclaimed after a hearty swallow.

"You say that now, but one day you'll be all lovey-dovey over a boy!" Washu teased drawing her clasped hands under her chin and pretending to be in love herself.

"Gross! Stop it mom!" Ryoko shouted. "I hate boys! I never want to fall in love!"

Washu was about to continue teasing her daughter when a cleared throat caught her attention. She turned around to see the judges inspecting Ryoko's booth. "Well, good evening!" she said warmly.

"Good evening Dr. Hakubi, Good evening Student Hakubi," murmured the delegation of teachers.

"Good evening, " Ryoko responded with a full bow. "Thank you for visiting my booth."

Washu faded to the side to give Ryoko the full spotlight.

"Tell us a little about your project," requested an elderly man.

Ryoko grinned with confidence in her eyes and gave each of the judges a handout. "As you can read in further detail, I argue for the theory of cosmic expansion and contraction in regards to how our galaxy, and the larger galactic cluster it is a part of, was formed." She gestured to her hanging mobile. "My model merely is a reminder of the natural shapes of ellipses and spheres that are the basic forms of our galaxy," she recited clearly.

The judge nodded. "Nicely said, Miss. Hakubi. However, can you explain the extreme simplicity of your galactic model?"

Washu frowned at that, but kept silent.

Ryoko gulped, not having expected the complexity of her model to matter. "Um… well… my mother has always taught me that the mode of presentation should not get in the way of the material being presented. Uh… that is, the simpler and more clear the better."

Washu caught Ryoko's eye and nodded. ::So you do listen to me on rare occasion,:: she sent to her daughter sounding both proud and amused.

Ryoko responded with a mental equivalent of a raspberry but kept her attention on the judges. "Thank you for your attention honored ladies and gentleman," she said bowing again.

The judged nodded and headed for the next booth.

Ryoko flopped down on a stool and heaved out a dramatic sigh. "They hated it." Her shoulders drooped. "I should have let you help."

Washu slipped an arm around her daughter's shoulders. "Yeah, they weren't too impressed."

Ryoko sniffed, on the edge of tears. Even her mother hated her project.

"Those stupid pig heads wouldn't understand an original effort if it bit them in the ass. They are too used all of the cheating to notice an honest entry," Washu continued, giving Ryoko's shoulders a warm squeeze.

Ryoko blinked back her tears and leaned into Washu and smiled a little sadly. "I'm still sorry I didn't win for you."

Washu squeezed Ryoko's shoulders again. "This contest is about you not me."

"Yeah. I just wanted to make you proud of me."

Washu removed her arm and dropped to one knee so she could look up into Ryoko's eyes. "Oh but you have. Let's see… One, you were self-reliant. Two, you were honest. Three, your arguments for your selected theory were watertight. Four, you showed me that you know how to present data." She fished around in a subspace pocket that had formed behind Ryoko's head and pulled out a blue ribbon with the words "First Place" painted in gold down the center. She pinned it on Ryoko's shirt, and kissed her on the cheek. "Well done."

Ryoko stroked the ribbon with a finger and smiled down at her mother. Her mom was the best.

Dr. Clay walked up to the counter of Ryoko's booth and immediately noticed Ryoko's ribbon. "What's this? I know the judges haven't announced the placing yet. Are you rigging the contest Dr. Washu?" he sputtered.

Washu groaned. "Buzz off ya big geek. This isn't any of your concern," she said making shooing motions with her fingers.

Ryoko jumped off her stool and put her hands on her hips. "Yeah! And don't say mean things to my mommy ya big… ya big… Octopus Head!"

Washu couldn't help herself. She just couldn't. Peals of laughter escaped her lips and she clutched her stomach as the laughter burst free. "That's… HA … so perfect!"

***

"I came up with that?" Ryoko asked with amusement as the others laughed softly.

"Yep! You always had a talent for fitting nicknames," Washu stated, casting a quick look towards Ayeka.

"And what did you mean by that look Ms. Washu?" demanded the purple-tressed young woman.

"Ah, calm down, Princess Pea Brain," Ryoko teased with a wink.

Washu nodded to herself. Ryoko certainly did have a talent for that.

"Fine, Space Pirate," Ayeka returned in a chummy tone. "Are there anymore memories tonight?"

"No, I don' think I can take anymore. "I'm getting a headache," Ryoko said rubbing her head. 

Washu leaned over and peered into her daughter's eyes. "That shouldn't be happening. I placed an energy-buffer on the scrapbook. It shouldn't hurt you." She squinted as if he could read diagnostic information in Ryoko's eyes.

Ryoko turned her head away. Who knew what Washu could see in there, and there were some things Washu shouldn't know about, for her own protection. "Well, maybe I'm just tired. It's been a long day."

Washu touched Ryoko's shoulder softly. "I could run a few tests just to be safe. If you want me to do it."

Ryoko turned back to her mother, her eyelids half closed. "Nah, that's okay. I think I'll just got to bed." She turned to her lover. "You coming, Tenchi?"

"Actually, I thought I would surf the net a little," he said absently, looking towards the family PC.

Ryoko nudged his leg and looked at him meaningfully.

Tenchi caught the melancholy that fleeted across her features. "On second thought, I think I'm ready for bed too." He got up and extended his hand to Ryoko. 

She took it and he pulled her to her feet. She gathered up the scrapbook and bade everyone goodnight. 

Tenchi echoed the sentiment and slid an arm around Ryoko's waist as the both ascended the stairs.

"Those two could be a little more discrete," Ayeka murmured under her breath.

Washu shook her head. She had seen the whole exchange. What was Ryoko hiding from her?

Upstairs in their room, Ryoko buried her face in Tenchi's chest and held him close.

Tenchi's arms went around her immediately. "What is it?" he asked.

Ryoko squeezed him once then looked up at him with sad eyes. "The next set of memories… they show a big turning point in my relationship with Kagato."

"And the ones you have shown already haven't?"

"Heh. Trust me, it gets worse. Kagato stopped pretending to be nice and started to go after me for real," she said toying with a button.

"Oh," Tenchi whispered into her hair.

"More importantly my Tenchi, when I stopped trusting him and went to mom… she didn't believe me."

"You've mentioned that before," he agreed.

She nodded. "And I guess I didn't want her to have to watch it, particularly in front of all of you."

Tenchi rubbed her back. "That was kind of you, honey."

"I must be getting soft," she half growled, half sniffed. "Tenchi?" she asked looking up at him.

"Hmmmm?"

"It hurts to remember that she wasn't there for me," Ryoko whispered in a small voice. "I don't really want to remember it either."

Tenchi looked down and saw a single tear pooling at the corner of her left eye. With a tender smile, he brushed it away with his thumb. "It's all in the past, 'Yoko. All done and gone."

She hid her face in his chest again. "Not for me. It's still heavy in my heart."

"Will you share it with me then?"

She nodded.

"Good." He pulled her out of his arms and led her to the bed. "Let's sleep now and we can face this in the morning."

She phased out of her clothes and crawled under the covers. Tenchi undressed more slowly and turned off the light before sliding in as a warm presence beside her. He spooned against her cool skin and wrapped his arms around her torso.

"I love you Ryoko. No matter what happened in your past."

She murmured softly and snuggled into his chest taking great comfort from his physical presence. She would show him some of her uglier memories tomorrow. He was the only one she would ever show.


	3. 

Mementos: Chapter Three  
  
  
  
Ryoko settled onto the blanket and smiled as the warm sun kissed her face. Up here on the mountain, her troubles seemed distant, too far away to bother her. She hated to sully this sanctuary with the darker visions of her past, but this seemed to be the best place to do it. And if her budding memories were correct, there were still some sweet moments mixed in with the sour. She smiled as big fluffy clouds moved slowly across the sky. Compared tot he vastness of the sky, what were her problems, really?  
  
Tenchi opened the picnic basket and brought out a large bottle of sake and two saucers. "You want some?" he asked twisting the cap off of the bottle.  
  
"You have to ask?" she asked wryly, lifting a slender eyebrow as she took a saucer and held it out to be filled.  
  
"Just being polite," he said with a grin as he filled her cup.  
  
She leaned over and kissed his cheek. In spite of everything, there was Tenchi too. These memories couldn't hurt her as long as he was at her side.  
  
He cocked his head. "What was that for?"  
  
"The sake, you idiot," she teased. "Are you ready?" she asked, her fingertip lightly touching the play button on her electronic scrapbook.  
  
He nodded and took a sip of his drink. He hated how this made Ryoko suffer, but he knew she needed to do this, and he was happy to support her as she needed it.  
  
With a surprisingly amused smile, she started the device and the memory unfolded upon a portable screen.  
  
***  
  
  
  
Steam from a hot shower filled the bathroom and drifted out the door into the hall as a girlish voice sang a pop song a bit off key. The hum of water running through the pipes and the accompanying splatter of water against tiles came to an abrupt halt, followed by the sound of a show curtain being drawn aside.  
  
"Umm…Mom?" called Ryoko's voice.  
  
"Mmmm?" came the distracted reply.  
  
"Can you come up here?"  
  
"…."  
  
"MOM!"  
  
"Huh? What?" called back Washu, her attention finally captured.  
  
"I said, can you come up here?" Ryoko shouted back.  
  
"Now?"  
  
"Yes!"  
  
"Right now? I'm kinda in the middle of something here," the scientist wheedled.  
  
"Mother!" Ryoko shouted, stressing the last syllable into a whine.  
  
"Fine. I'm coming. Hold your horses," Washu muttered climbing the stairs. She wore cargo shorts and a stripped and hooded sweatshirt. Her feet were bare showing off silver painted toenails, a service rendered by her daughter the night before. She started to push the bathroom door fully open when a squeal stopped her.  
  
"Don't come in here!" yelled Ryoko's outraged voice.  
  
Washu sighed and leaned against the wall by the door. Her bright hair made a loud contrast against the green wallpaper. "Since when did you care about being naked?" she asked, truly confused.  
  
Ryoko stuck her head around the door, damp, dark green hair hanging in loose tendrils around her face. "Mom… uh…." she started to say, her cheeks flushing.  
  
Washu looked sideways at her daughter. "Yes?"  
  
Ryoko flicked a long lock of hair behind an oblong ear. "Something happened. All at once."  
  
Washu traced a toe along the pattern woven into the hallway runner. "Sweetheart, it helps when your speech makes sense."  
  
"They grew, Mom," Ryoko said significantly. "A lot."  
  
"They?" Washu asked. "Who else is in there with you?"  
  
Ryoko rolled her eyes. "Ha ha. Very funny. Do you know what I'm trying to say?"  
  
"No. I think since you turned 13, your ability to communicate has taken a turn for the worse," Washu said with a sad shake of her head.  
  
"Fine," Ryoko snapped and stepped put of the bathroom with a white towel wrapped firmly around her damp body.  
  
"What's with the towel… OH MY GODDESS!" Washu gasped when she saw the twin mounds of breast making a defined outline against the towels. "When did you get those?"  
  
"That's what I want to know!" Ryoko cried. "They were just THERE when I woke up this morning!"  
  
"My little girl is turning into a woman!" Washu exclaimed her eyes looking starry.  
  
"Shut up!" Ryoko snarled, stamping a foot.  
  
Grinning like a fiend, Washu reached behind her and pulled a measuring tape out from a handy dimensional pocket. Moving like lighting while she had the chance, she wrapped the tape around Ryoko's bust and took a quick measurement.  
  
Ryoko started struggling immediately. With a quick motion, she incinerated the tape with a small burst of energy from her palms. "Stop!"  
  
Washu giggled. "Wow, that's a D-cup for sure. I am very impressed, my not- so-little Ryoko!"  
  
"Gross! I don't want breasts!"  
  
Washu's giggles developed into fill blown guff-gaws of laughter. "Well you certainly have them now!"  
  
"Make them go away! Please!" Ryoko begged. "I hate this!" she cried, tears forming at the corners of her eyes.  
  
Hearing the pain in Ryoko's voice, Washu stopped laughing immediately. She laid a hesitant hand on her daughter's shoulder. "I'm sorry for laughing, Sweetie. What's the problem here?" she asked kindly.  
  
Ryoko fell into her mother's arms. "It all happened so fast. What will I do with these big things? What will people say?"  
  
"People will say you are growing up." Washu wrapped her arms around her daughter.  
  
"No they won't. Normal girls don't wake up with mountains on their chests. They grow into them… slowly. People will say that's just another example of why I'm a freak."  
  
"They better not say that around me," Washu growled.  
  
Ryoko pulled back. "Yeah? Well, they will make sure to say it when you aren't around." She backed into the bathroom. "Just like they always do!" The door slammed and the lock snapped into place.  
  
Washu rapped on the door with her knuckles. "What do you mean? Who says things to you?" she demanded.  
  
"Go away!"  
  
"Little Ryoko…"  
  
"It's all your fault!"  
  
Washu took a deep breath, counted to ten, and exhaled slowly. "Please come out."  
  
"I hate you!"  
  
Trying not to be hurt by her offspring's outburst, Washu straightened her back and headed back downstairs. "Ryoko, if you don't finish puberty soon, one of us isn't going to make it out alive," she sighed.  
  
***  
  
  
  
Tenchi's face turned an interesting mix of blue and red as he tried not to laugh. He and Ryoko were seated on a blanket in a mountain meadow far from the rest of the family. She had insisted on privacy because these memories were apparently about to turn dark and uncomfortable, and Ryoko didn't want to expose her mother or Sasami to them. But that memory had been just hilarious. He couldn't see why she was so worried.  
  
As the cool breeze tugged at tendrils of her hair, Ryoko watched Tenchi's struggle. She took a sip of sake to hide her own grin. "Tenchi, you are turning purple."  
  
"I'm sorry," he gasped. " But that was so, so funny!" His laughter broke free and he doubled over, sloshing his drink onto the blanket.  
  
Ryoko smiled mildly. "Far be it from me to tell you that you're making a mess, my Tenchi."  
  
He noticed what he was doing and held his cup over the grass instead of the blanket. "I'm sorry for laughing," he said, still snickering.  
  
"It sounds like you never had to experience changes in your body like that," she said dryly.  
  
"Oh I did. But not so quickly. And I think it's harder for girls anyway," he said his composure returning.  
  
"Oh?"  
  
"Well maybe the girls on earth don't go through such sudden changes as you did, but their bodies change shape and they start having…" he paused awkwardly. "You know, periods?" he half-said-half-asked with a blush.  
  
"Periods?"  
  
"You know, 'that time of the month'?"  
  
"What time of the month?"  
  
Tenchi was turning bright red. "You know. You have to know. You watch too much TV not to know!"  
  
She looked at him closely, her non-comprehension clear upon her face.  
  
"Think of the commercials for maxipads. You know, those things with wings," he stuttered.  
  
"Ohhh. The menstrual cycle," she said, now understanding.  
  
"Yes, that. So it seems to me girls have a harder time growing up," he continued on his original topic. "All I did was get a deeper voice and more hair."  
  
Ryoko drew her knees up to her chest and rested her chin there. "Yes all these changes to become sexual beings." She sighed. "Its natural for all species, but for me… a – a - construct it was more difficult than usual."  
  
Tenchi frowned at her word choice, but remained silent as he heard the pain in her words. "For me, there were no cycles or rhythms. It was just off or on, zero or one, just like a computer program." She held her ceramic cup out for Tenchi to refill, carefully selecting her next words. "So when my puberty routine switched on, my body was flooded with hormones and energy currents at full potency all at once."  
  
Tenchi nodded. "Washu has spoken of this. It didn't go well, did it?"  
  
"No, my Masu genetics were overwhelmed by the chemical onslaught, and responded by producing random energy pulses." She winced, remembering how horrible that had been.  
  
"What did that do to you?"  
  
She smiled a strange little grin, a mix between a wince and longing. "I became the most irritable, emotional, unstable 13 year old ever known to sentient beings. But the problem was, this all happened as Kagato started to plot his betrayal."  
  
Tenchi sucked din a breath of understanding. "You mean your problems gave him the perfect smoke screen?"  
  
"Bingo," she said sounding just like her mother. "It must have been a dream come true. The bolder he became, the more distracted Washu was. The more I complained about him, the more I complained about everything else. It was perfect."  
  
"So that last memory we saw meant what?" he asked, not quite getting how it all matched up.  
  
"That morning marked the end of my childhood and the beginning of the end. Kagato had been waiting for me to reach maturity." Tenchi nodded as it all came together, and she started the next memory without another word.  
  
***  
  
  
  
Wearing a purple shirt that stretched uncomfortably across her chest, Ryoko sprawled on her back on a velvet couch in the recreation area of her mother's spacious home. Long gone were the days of cramped little Science Academy apartments. Somewhere downstairs Washu was working where the sound of Ryoko's activities could not distract her and vice versa.  
  
A large screened video monitor was playing some teen-angst drama about adolescent love that typically held Ryoko in its thrall. But it didn't hold her attention this day. She watched the screen with unseeing eyes as the pain in her lower abdomen continued to throb. She lifted the hem of her shirt and pressed an ice pack to the general location and hissed as the cold rubber touched her skin.  
  
Washu strode into the room with a small hand held computer, a worried frown on her pretty face. She looked at Ryoko and back at the readings a couple of times. "How's it feel now, Honey?"  
  
"Worse." Ryoko had her hair bound up in a spiky ponytail, and beads of perspiration showed clearly upon her face and neck, a silent testament to her physical stress.  
  
"Hmmm." Washu touched the keypad on her computer and shook her head. "For what it is worth, this time your spleen isn't swelling. I know it hurts, but you won't have to have another surgery."  
  
Ryoko rolled her eyes. "Hur-ray," she said flatly.  
  
Washu chewed at her bottom lip. She didn't know what was worse, Ryoko's growing passive acceptance to the many medical procedures she was suddenly forced to endure since the onset of her problematic puberty, or her sudden nasty mood swings. She reached into a pocket and pulled out a strawberry sucker and held it out to Ryoko. "I saw Dr. Vilella today. He asked me to give this to you."  
  
Ryoko's eyes brightened as she took the candy and unwrapped it with a single twist of her thumb and index finger. "Cool," she said popping the treat into her mouth. "Ugh!" she yelled, pulling the sucker back out and staring at it as if it were poisoned.  
  
"What's the problem?" Washu asked with a surprised laugh.  
  
"This tastes like grass!" Ryoko wailed, starting to tear up. "That's not a funny joke Mother!"  
  
Washu let the accusation slide past her. "Let me try it." She took the candy and licked it. "It tastes like strawberry to me."  
  
Ryoko screwed up her face and reached for the glass of soda she had sitting on the table by the couch. She took a sip to cleanse her palate and choked. "This tastes like grass too!" she screamed, throwing the glass across the room, the dark liquid staining the cream carpet where it fell. "What's wrong with me?!"  
  
Washu passed her small computer over her daughter's head. "Hold still, I'm scanning now."  
  
Ryoko pulled in sharp and rapid breaths of air through nose as she did her best to hold still. "I don't want to be sick anymore, Mommy."  
  
"I know, sweetie, I know," Washu clucked. "Ah…here it is…. Oh dear…"  
  
"What? What is it?" Ryoko demanded.  
  
Washu closed her eyes. "There is something wrong with your sixth cranial nerve. It's not sending the signals from your tongue to your brain as it should be. I'm afraid I'm going to have to operate." She opened her eyes and regarded her daughter with worry. "I'm sorry, Little Ryoko."  
  
Ryoko's mood quieted at the mention of surgery. "Again? So soon?" she whispered. Just last week Washu had had to manually unfreeze the all the joints on the left side of Ryoko's body.  
  
Washu ran a gentle hand through her daughter's bangs and sighed. "I'm afraid so. It will get worse if we wait."  
  
"Okay, Mom."  
  
Washu leaned down and kissed Ryoko's forehead. "I'm going to see if I can't grab us a surgical room at the medical campus, okay?"  
  
" 'Kay," Ryoko said dully, turning disinterested eyes back to the television drama.  
  
"I'll be back in about ten minutes." Shoulders drooping, Washu summoned a transdimensional portal and stepped through.  
  
Ryoko sighed and jiggled the ice pack so that the ice inside clattered together like stones. "This sucks," she complained to the cabbit snoozing at her feet.  
  
The furry creature lifted one ear and slowly parted the lids of one eye. "Miya," she agreed. Because of the link she had a front row seat to all of Ryoko's suffering. She kept the link closed most of the time these days so she didn't suffer along with her mistress.  
  
Ryoko heard heavy footsteps coming up the main staircase. She stiffened and closed her eyes knowing exactly who was coming and hoping to avoid an interaction. She certainly did not feel up to his mind games this afternoon.  
  
The hair on her skin prickled as she heard the footsteps enter the room and going around the couch, pausing as Kagato looked at her. Then they resumed again, this time coming closer. The cushions on the couch shifted and sighed as he sat on the couch near her feet. Before long, she felt a gloved hand stroking along her calf.  
  
"Are you asleep, Ryoko?" he asked softly.  
  
She pretended to mutter in her sleep and shifted her body so her legs were curled closer to her chest and away from his grasp. Ryo-Ohki whined in protest and crawled closer to her mistress.  
  
He was quiet for the moment, the rhythm of his breath the only intrusion into her personal space.  
  
"You are growing up, my Ryoko," he murmured softly.  
  
This was getting too weird. Ryoko made a show of waking up slowly. She yawned and stretched her arms as she opened her eyes.  
  
"Oh, hi," she said, acting surprised. "Mom isn't here, but I think she will be back soon."  
  
He smiled at her smoothly. "Then I shall wait for her." His eyes drifted from her face to her new breasts as they pushed against the limited confines of her shirt.  
  
Ryoko followed his gaze. "What are you looking at?" she asked in a voice full of doubt. Something about this seemed wrong, seemed scary.  
  
His eyes slid back to her face. "Nothing, Little Ryoko. So tell me, how is your sword work coming?"  
  
"It's okay," she said evasively.  
  
"Then why did you not compete in the campus martial arts competition last week? You were favored to win the weapons category," he asked with a faint frown.  
  
For some reason she couldn't really define, Ryoko had started to feel uncomfortable around Kagato. Just trying to think about why gave her a headache, one of those tight kinds, right at the base of her skull. Because of these feelings, she never wanted to show any weakness round him if she could help it. And given how creepy he was acting today, she had even more reasons to look strong. "Well, I'm not really interested in fighting anymore," she lied. The real reason had been her current physical problems.  
  
"Oh Ryoko, I am disappointed," he sighed. "Your athletic abilities are your one true strength."  
  
He was staring at her chest again.  
  
She hugged herself to block his view and muttered, " I want to be a geologist, not an athlete."  
  
Kagato looked at her with cold eyes, his hands clenching at his sides. He ran the tip of his tongue over his lips and then pressed his lips firmly together into a line. His eyes roamed her body and settled back on her face. "Sometimes we don't get what we want Ryoko," he said with conviction.  
  
Ryoko scooted further away. He was definitely scarier than usual today. The way he looked at her, like she was just an object, it was like he wanted to gobble her up.  
  
Ryoko was building up the courage to ask him to leave when Washu popped back through her pseudo-space portal. "Good news Little Ryoko… oh hello Kagato!" she beamed walking around the couch to join them.  
  
"Hello, professor," he said with a half bow.  
  
Washu took in Ryoko's body language and frowned. "What's wrong with you?"  
  
Ryoko looked to her mother and back to Kagato and back to her mother. Something was wrong. Something was changing. But she didn't know how to describe it. All she knew was this big rush of fear she felt around someone she used to trust. And he was looking at her too, as if he was daring her to say something. But what could she say that would make any sense? Kagato was Mom's favorite student.  
  
"Sweetie?" Washu asked again.  
  
"Kagato…" Ryoko began, toying nervously with her ice pack. What to say? "Kagato was looking at my breasts!" she blurted out, her cheeks turning bright pink.  
  
Washu snorted. "Who couldn't help look at those? You didn't have them last week. A big surprise, eh Kagato?" She asked with a chuckle.  
  
"Indeed," he said laughing softly.  
  
Washu leaned all of her weight on one foot and tapped the other one on the carpet. " I think we screwed up her puberty routine big time. The moment her pituitary gland came on-line, it was over-secreting hormones. And her Masu cells had an adverse reaction to it."  
  
Ryoko jumped to her feet and grabbed her mother's shoulders. "Stop talking about me like I'm a thing! I'm a person just like you! You've always said so!"  
  
Washu blinked. "Honey, I didn't mean it that way. You know that your body needs some work right now, and that's all I was trying to say. Kagato needs to know so he can help me fix this."  
  
Ryoko stepped back and held her head with clenching fingers. "I don't want him to touch me! Do you understand? He – he just wants to hurt me."  
  
"Ryoko!" Washu said, aghast. "How can you say that?"  
  
"I hate you! I hate you both!" she wailed and fled from the room.  
  
******  
  
  
  
As the memory ended, Tenchi looked to Ryoko and silently put a hand over hers.  
  
"Awful isn't it?" she asked tightly.  
  
He nodded.  
  
"Looking at it now, it seems so clear. But back then, it wasn't so different from every other thing that upset me." She laughed bitterly. "And Washu was right. EVERYONE stared at my breasts. They couldn't help it."  
  
"But still," he protested.  
  
"I know," she shushed him. "But I have clearer vision now to see it. And you have the clearest vision of all since you weren't there."  
  
"I wish I had been there. I'd have killed him," he said hotly. "The way he looked at you… it was just wrong!"  
  
"At least you got to kill him, maybe just not right then," she tried to joke.  
  
"Yoko, I knew you had been through a lot. But to see it like this…to see how you were…to see what happened…. How did you make it out to the other side as well as you did?" He drew her into a hug. "I'm so proud of you."  
  
"Hey don't get all mushy on me," she said gruffly, a shadow of her old facade reappearing.  
  
Tenchi noticed this immediately, and it told him, clearer than words, how hard it was for her to rexperince these moments from her past. He gently pushed her away and reached for the sake bottle. As she regained her composure, he poured her a large saucer of rice wine. He pressed the cup into her hands, and settled close to her, letting her draw warmth and strength from his body. "No more memories today, okay?"  
  
She took a long pull of sake and closed her eyes for a moment. "I need you to see one more today."  
  
"If you insist," he said with doubt.  
  
"I do. This is the real moment everything changed," she said, stabbing the device's start button with a trembling finger.  
  
***  
  
Ryoko's room had pink walls. But it was difficult to tell that as 99% of the wall surface was covered with posters of horses, rock stars, and honor certificates. The floor was a warm, golden hardwood that gleamed from beneath piles of clothing, books, and discarded food wrappers. Wooden practice blades resting against stuffed animals made an odd contrast that was dulled by the surrounding mess.  
  
Ryoko sat on the corner of her bed, hunched over, trying to paint her toenails a shimmery pink. She frowned as her large breasts made it more difficult to reach down her long legs. "Damn it," she grumbled as the polish smeared across the cuticle of her big toe.  
  
"Language, language," a cool voice reminded.  
  
Not shifting her position, Ryoko looked up with her eyes only, her expression carefully neutral. "Hello."  
  
Kagato stepped through the doorway and surveyed the cluttered room with an air of mild distaste. "Is that all you have to say after you hurt me deeply yesterday?"  
  
She looked back to her paint job. " I didn't mean it."  
  
"Didn't you?" he asked strangely, almost as if he were baiting her.  
  
She looked back up at him. "No. Should I have?" She wrinkled her nose. Something was different about him lately. He had been a part of her life for as long as she could remember, he was almost family, but more and more she was getting strange vibes from him. At first, she had thought it was just her moods, but she was starting to notice weird feelings even when her body and emotions were stable. Like today, just now. She was fine, but he was obviously nervous about something, and it made her nervous too.  
  
His eye twitched at her answer. "My, you've become so suspicious, my Little Ryoko."  
  
She blinked. What was up with him? Maybe she should just let it go. "I'm sorry Uncle. I didn't mean it. Honestly. I just get so moody these days."  
  
He relaxed. "It must be difficult for you to be so out of control of your body," he placated.  
  
"I hate it," she said in a clear voice. "I want it to stop."  
  
He watched her resume painting her nails. "Sometimes it is good to give up control, it can make things easier."  
  
"Huh?" she asked, half-listening, as she carefully rubbed the excess paint on the brush off against the lip of the bottle.  
  
"Never mind. Why are you doing that?" he asked softly.  
  
"So my feet will be pretty."  
  
"I don't like it. You don't need to do that."  
  
She shrugged and kept painting.  
  
"Young lady, I want you to remove that pink paint at once."  
  
Ryoko's head jerked up and she looked at him with wide eyes. The brush hovered over her last unpainted pinkie nail.  
  
"You heard me. Remove it," he said in a stronger voice.  
  
"You're not my Mom," she snapped back.  
  
An ugly look crossed his face. "Am I not one of your creators? Do as I say, you useless creature."  
  
"MOM!" Ryoko cried, tears filling her eyes. "MOMMY!"  
  
Washu's head popped out of a dimensional pocket between Ryoko and Kagato. "What's wrong?" she asked quickly.  
  
Ryoko sniffed as a fat tear rolled down her cheek. She leapt up and took a firm hold of Washu's shoulders and with a firm tug, she pulled Washu through the portal and into the room. "Mommy!" Ryoko sobbed, wrapping her arms around Washu's neck and holding on as if to save her life.  
  
"What is it Honey?" Washu asked, patting Ryoko's back. "Tell Mom what's wrong."  
  
"It's him," Ryoko said brokenly, pointing an accusing finger at Kagato. "He's acting all weird and he – and he - he called me a creation."  
  
Washu rubbed Ryoko's back and looked over to her student and colleague. "Kagato?" she asked in disbelief.  
  
He looked distressed and massaged his chin in thought. "She must have taken something I said the wrong way. You know how she gets these days, poor thing," he said in a pitying voice.  
  
"Liar!" Ryoko screamed. "I'm fine today and you know it!"  
  
"Ryoko, please calm down," Washu pleaded.  
  
"Yes, maybe you should rest," Kagato added.  
  
"No!" Ryoko stepped back and looked her mother in the eye as angry tears trickled down her red cheeks. "Listen to me Mother. He came in here and tried to tell me what to do. Then he called me a creation when I wouldn't do it. He called me useless!"  
  
Washu sighed as Ryoko ranted, her daughter's words convincing her this was just another mood swing. She crossed her arms and leveled a stern look at Ryoko. "Stop. I know you are sick, but that's not an invitation to act like a spoiled brat."  
  
"A brat?!" Ryoko sputtered.  
  
"A brat," Washu agreed. "Whatever he told you to do, I want you to do it."  
  
"But!"  
  
"No buts. Just do it."  
  
"Don't you even want to know what it is?" Ryoko pleaded.  
  
"Not really," Washu said heading for the door. "I trust Kagato." She looked to her student. "Let's give her some space." She exited the room, followed by Kagato who turned and cut a little bow in Ryoko's direction, a triumphant smile on his face.  
  
Ryoko stood in the middle of the room frozen with shock.  
  
She didn't suspect something was wrong anymore. She knew.  
  
  
  
  
  
The end of chapter three  
  
  
  
Hey everybody! Thanks for the kind comments and feedback! My readers are the greatest in the entire universe!! -Di 


	4. Chapter Four

The world was spinning. Around and around and around it went. Vague shapes of carrots, hoes, and carrying baskets danced before her eyes.  
  
"There you are," said a concerned voice as a door slid open, allowing in a bright shaft of light.  
  
Lying sprawled on the floor, with several empty sake bottles scattered about her, Ryoko hiccuped and looked up with bleary eyes. "Tenshi?" she asked weakly as he entered.  
  
Tenchi knelt down and took Ryoko's hand. The dimness of the shed washed the colors from him, making him seem composed of varying shades of gray. "Hey. I was worried about you."  
  
Rolling over onto her side, Ryoko curled her body around Tenchi's legs, burying her face in his calves.  
  
"Honey?" he asked with concern. "Are you okay?"  
  
"No," she slurred. "I am not."  
  
He rubbed her back and closed his eyes. "Maybe, we shouldn't look at any more memories 'Yoko," he murmured.  
  
She groaned and rolled on to her other side, facing away from him. "We've had this conversation," she said darkly.  
  
"Yes, but look at you! Missing for two hours! Drunk on the floor! I don't think this 'scrapbook' is doing anything but hurting you," he hissed, grabbing her shoulders, twisting her around so he could look her sternly in the eyes.  
  
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry," she moaned. "I'm a bad girl."  
  
Tenchi winced. "Shhh, no, no, no. I didn't mean it that way." He helped her to a sitting position. "Let's get back to our room okay?"  
  
"But that's what Momma said. She said I was a bad girl," Ryoko sniveled, wiping her nose on the back of her sleeve.  
  
"Well, she was wrong!" Tenchi snapped. "You are anything but bad," he continued more mildly. "You are my. my. my innocent little Ryoko," he crooned into her hair.  
  
Ryoko let go a stream of drunken gurgles that were probably intended as laughter.  
  
He sighed. "Come on now, up you go," he grunted as he grabbed her hands and attempted to haul her to her feet.  
  
"Let me help you," Washu said quietly as she stepped into the shed. Her dark pink bangs shaded her eyes, hiding her expression, while her drooping shoulders spoke of her sadness.  
  
"Washu." Tenchi's voice held anger at her for inventing the machine that had caused his Ryoko so much pain, as well as traces of disgust for Washu's behavior so long ago.  
  
Being a genius, Washu picked up on all of it and bit her lip as she pushed Ryoko from behind while Tenchi pulled. As Ryoko shuffled to her feet, Washu slipped to one side of her daughter and supported her, while Tenchi did the same on the other side. "I deserve whatever curses you are thinking at me, Tenchi," Washu whispered, catching Tenchi's eyes over Ryoko's shoulder. " I deserve worse."  
  
"Hey, you better be nice to my mom," Ryoko declared, tripping over her own feet as Tenchi and Washu began walking her out the door.  
  
Washu tsked. "Ryoko, Honey, shut up and focus on walking. Right now you can only do one thing at a time." She looked over to Tenchi. "Hang on tightly. She's likely to do something crazy."  
  
"I'm too sick to do the chicken dance," Ryoko protested.  
  
With a weak chuckle, Washu teleported the three of them to Tenchi and Ryoko's bedroom, and helped Tenchi lay Ryoko on the bed. Ryoko had passed out mid-transport and was buzz-sawing through logs, a small line of drool hanging from her bottom lip.  
  
For a long moment, the two protectors just watched her sleep in the security of her own bed.  
  
"Washu," Tenchi began, the raw tones in his voice warning her of an oncoming outburst.  
  
She held up a hand to stall him and met his gaze with sad, tired eyes. "Save it. You are quite right. That scrapbook was a stupid idea. I didn't realize it would hurt her this much."  
  
"How do you know it hurt her?" he asked suspiciously.  
  
"Besides the fact she is cold drunk for the first time in months? The link you simpleton. Ryoko only thinks she can make me stay out of her mind."  
  
"You watched?!?" Tenchi asked clearly offended. "She asked you NOT to watch!"  
  
"Of course I did! Did you think I would let her face the darkness of her past unaided?" Washu defended herself, flicking her long hair over one shoulder.  
  
Tenchi nodded his understanding reluctantly. "I guess not."  
  
"Besides, she was only trying to protect me. I'm not the one who needs protection." Washu looked around the room. "Where is it?"  
  
Understanding, Tenchi moved to the nightstand on his side of the bed and pulled open the top drawer. He removed the device and held it up to Washu.  
  
Washu's eyes narrowed in determination. "Watch out, this might sting." She reached out her hand, and in a display that matched Ryoko's powers, she sent out a small sphere of energy. It hit the device square-on, and in a flash of fire and black smoke, the memory recorder disintegrated.  
  
Tenchi jumped back and waved his hand around. "Youch!"  
  
Seeing he was merely surprised and not injured, Washu fixed him with a stern expression. "Look here, I want it on the record that I made that thing to encourage her to explore her happy memories. I had no idea she would even touch the darker ones."  
  
Tenchi's expression became more understanding. "Well, I'm happy it's gone. Just look at her."  
  
Watching her daughter's fitful sleep Washu tilted her head and twirled a tendril of red hair around a fingertip. "Just keep in mind that my machine was just a recorder. Something to help her process all of her returned data. She could remember just as well without it. It mainly served as a prompt. She might keep exploring those memories, even with it gone."  
  
"The last set really tore her up," Tenchi said, sitting on the bed near Ryoko. He stretched his back up and out, then relaxed, settling into a comfortable position. He laid his hand lightly over Ryoko's.  
  
Washu pulled up a desk chair and sat within a comfortable conversational range. "Yeah, those weren't a real walk in the park for me either." Her eyes were shadowed, and she looked away, not willing to display her pain so publicly.  
  
Tenchi reached out and patted Washu's hand where it lay on her lap. "I can't even imagine."  
  
"I forgot all about that last one. I was so blind." Washu's head bowed, further hiding her expression from Tenchi. "And I've been wondering all this time why she despised me so much," she muttered, her self-reproach present like a sour scent in the room.  
  
Tenchi was silent. There was clearly no response required.  
  
"And it gets worse Tenchi." Washu ran a finger under her lashes and looked up to face him, her eyes shining fiercely. "Let me tell you, so she won't have to."  
  
"What?" Tenchi asked, not quite following her train of thought.  
  
"I will tell you what happened after that last set of memories. Otherwise, Miss Stubborn over there will feel the need to finish what she started."  
  
Tenchi nodded and leaned forward with morbid fascination, and the words Washu wove were just as vibrant as any memory Tenchi had watched unfold on the now destroyed scrapbook.  
  
***  
  
The grey light of a misty evening filled Washu's spotless kitchen. Looking distracted, she poured herself a cup of coffee and wandered back to her Academy office via a handy subspace portal. Her home brewed coffee was the best so why even bother with the sludge they sold in the faculty commissary?  
  
She smiled. Too bad nobody else understood subspace like she did. The freedom of movement it allowed her was priceless. And her neat Academy office, so expertly organized, was really the best place to work. Why even try to duplicate it at home?  
  
Feeling superior, Washu sat back at her microscope. She leaned forward and caught a glimpse of cyan hair around the corner. It looked like Ryoko was still working on her homework. "Little Ryoko, you might as well go on home, it looks like I am going to be here for a while."  
  
The shock of hair bobbed a bit, probably indicating an apathetic shrug.  
  
Washu frowned. Ever since the incident with Kagato last week Ryoko had not spoken one word to her mother, verbally or mentally. Yet, oddly for someone who was obviously furious with her, Ryoko hardly ever left her side. It was as if she was frightened of something.  
  
Or someone, Washu's conscious whispered, not needing to name names. Could he have really done something to Ryoko? It was unlike the youngster to stay so angry for so long without reason. She had a temper, but it usually flared and dissipated in the same moment.  
  
It was true, her mind nagged, Ryoko's form had suddenly changed from that of a gangly girl to a voluptuous woman. And Kagato was a male. Didn't all males want the same thing?  
  
She rubbed her eyes, trying to banish the images she saw in her mind. Her prize student couldn't be capable of that sort of behavior could he? She trusted him for the Goddess's sake! And all males were different! Just because her ex-husband had been a piece of. well, it was better not to go there.  
  
But Ryoko was acting so strangely. Not eating, not sleeping, always hanging around in sight of her mother. And this silent treatment. It was scary.  
  
Washu's analytical mind crunched the data at hand, and the answers were frightening. Was the unthinkable true? Didn't Ryoko deserve the benefit of the doubt?  
  
As she pondered, the main door to her office slid open, admitting the sound of happy girlish chatter as two of Ryoko's best friends came giggling into the room. Washu listened sharply, hoping for more clues.  
  
"Hey 'Yo! Whatcha doing?"  
  
"Studying," was Ryoko's brusque reply.  
  
"Still?" tittered a second voice. "Lets go play some power ball or something."  
  
"No thanks," Ryoko all but growled. "I'll catch you later."  
  
"Come on 'Yo 'Yo," pleaded the first voice. "We haven't really seen you all week."  
  
"Don't call me that! You know I hate that!" Ryoko snapped.  
  
A tense silence followed the outburst.  
  
"Ryoko?" One of the girls asked timidly. "Don't you like us anymore?"  
  
"Just get out!" Ryoko shouted. "I'm not going anywhere."  
  
"But 'Yo.."  
  
"OUT! OUT! OUT!" Ryoko screamed. Washu jumped at the sound of a thrown object hitting the wall.  
  
The sounds of sniffling preceded the swishing of the office door as the girls left. Into the following silence Ryoko panted, sounding as if she had run a marathon.  
  
Holding her tongue, Washu shook her head sadly. Poor Ryoko. Her hormones will still making her so unpredictable. Not wanting to play power ball during peak season? No, Ryoko was unstable right now. Which made her accusations about Kagato lose all reliability. Washu felt guilty for suspecting her star student when the truth was so obvious.  
  
She leaned back over the eyepiece and got back to work examining some of Ryoko's most recent cell cultures. This problem wasn't going to fix itself.  
  
An hour passed as mother and daughter steadily ignored each other and focused on their own tasks. At that late of an hour, the silence was offset by the little sounds that echoed around the building. The metal joints in the wall sighed as they contracted with the cooler external temperatures of the evening. Water could be heard rushing through the pipes from time to time. And over these subtle sounds were the steady sounds of Ryoko's pencil solving complex equations and the rattle of Washu switching her glass slides form time to time.  
  
Washu's ears caught the sudden stop of Ryoko's writing. Was she finally going to give up and go home alone? Wait what was that? It sounded like Ryoko was hyperventilating. "What's wrong?" Washu demanded.  
  
Ryoko came shuffling into the room gripping her right arm. "It's paralyzed!"  
  
"What?" Washu asked. "Come here!"  
  
Ryoko stumbled forward and let her useless arm drop onto her mother's desk. "I don't know what happened!" she yelped, big tears dripping from her eyes.  
  
Washu gently prodded the leaden limb. "Now calm down. Tell me what happened."  
  
Snuffling back tears, Ryoko shook her head. "I. I . don't know."  
  
Washu closed her eyes briefly and offered her daughter a reassuring smile upon opening them. "What where you doing when it started?"  
  
"My sub-space physics homework. You know, the extra assignments you gave me."  
  
Washu nodded. "Then?"  
  
"My fingers started tingling."  
  
Washu ran her own fingertips over those on Ryoko's afflicted hand. "Mmm- hmmm."  
  
"Then they felt kind of. cold. Not cold exactly, more like cool and dead."  
  
Washu nodded. "And then?"  
  
"It spread up my arm. Then I turned and." here Ryoko cut herself off abruptly, obviously editing her speech.  
  
"And then?" Washu repeated.  
  
Ryoko shook her head curtly, her lips pressed into a firm line as tears continued to silently run down her face.  
  
"What aren't you telling me?"  
  
Looking heartbroken, Ryoko wiped her tears. "Nothing you'd believe."  
  
"What does that mean?" Washu demanded.  
  
"What's wrong with me?" Ryoko asked instead of answering. "Will it be okay?"  
  
Washu pulled up her holographic computer and keyed in a few basic commands. "I'm scanning right now. What makes you think I wouldn't believe you? Turn your arm over please."  
  
Ryoko used her working arm to reposition her lifeless one without looking up at her mother. A short, betrayed laugh was her only verbal response. It was a sound too old and jaded for a young girl.  
  
As her laptop sent filaments of green light over her daughter's arm Washu bit her lip. Something was really wrong here. This wasn't typical of Ryoko's hormonal rages, it was too calm and quiet. There was a real problem and somehow, her little Ryoko had lost her faith in her mother.  
  
"Please tell me," Washu whispered.  
  
"There is nothing to tell," Ryoko whispered back.  
  
A chime sounded on Washu's computer, distracting her from the conversation at hand. She frowned at the output and gingerly entered in a response. Immediately, Ryoko's fingers twitched back to life.  
  
Ryoko heaved out a breath of relief and massaged her arm while she flexed its muscles. "That's much better. Thanks. No time to talk. Lots of homework." She scrubbed away the remains of her drying tears and vacated that section of her mother's office.  
  
Washu nodded absently and continued staring at her computer read out. It appeared that somehow, the routines governing the operation of Ryoko's arm had been shut down by some sort of code virus. It had penetrated her nervous system peripherally and had been shut down by Ryoko's inset safety codes once it had reached the nerves feeding into her central nervous system. It was clearly an assault of some sort. Who could have done that?  
  
Doubt was back, tickling the edges of her subconscious.  
  
***  
  
Two days after the arm incident, Washu sat at her bench, carefully adding a phial of powder to a bubbling beaker of purple liquid. It was a beautiful weekend afternoon, but if she wanted to submit her grant on time, she needed to finish this last set of tests. And research funding was s something any genius couldn't get enough of. She was working in what she liked to think of as her home lab, but it was really just another portion of the sub space network she had been creating bit by bit over the years. She had access to most of these spaces from many locations, but this room was only accessible from the house. She might like to work at the GA on most days, but when it came to the tricky stuff, her subspace labs had the best equipment.  
  
A loud slurp caught Washu's attention and she looked over at Ryoko, who was finishing up a can of soft drink. Washu pursed her lips. It was an absolutely gorgeous day, and her athletic daughter was curled up in a beanbag reading a book. Not that Little Ryoko didn't love to read, but sunny spring days usually found Ryoko out on the ball courts or participating in hovercraft races.  
  
Something was clearly wrong, and Ryoko was being silent as the grave about whatever it was. Washu was very worried. Ryoko was scared of something. No, she was terrified. Washu was pretty certain that Ryoko was sneaking into her mother's bedroom at night and sleeping under the bed. This wasn't typical behavior at all. But it wasn't unstable behavior either.  
  
Ryoko wouldn't talk about it! No complaints, no confidences.. Nothing! That more than anything convinced Washu that it wasn't just Ryoko's chaotic hormones. In fact, all of her recent tests had shown that those systems were stabilizing.  
  
It was something else. Something she hoped with all of her heart wasn't true.  
  
The door to the slid open and Kagato strode in looking rather cheerful.  
  
"Good afternoon professor. Still working on our little monster's chemical chaos?" he asked genially.  
  
Washu's eyes narrowed at his use of language, and flicked over to her daughter. Instead of firing off a typical retort, Ryoko was softly shaking and seemed to be hiding behind her book. "Was that really necessary?" Washu asked tightly, becoming more convinced about the validity of her misgivings.  
  
Kagato laughed a lowly. "I meant it fondly, I assure you."  
  
Washu nodded. "Her hormonal levels have stabilized. Those problems are behind us." She meant it as a warning. That she would believe whatever Ryoko had to say from now on.  
  
His eyes lit up. "Oh excellent news! Quite on time I'd say." He rubbed his hands together in pleasure.  
  
"I'm glad you had faith in my agenda," Washu said dryly, her stomach knotting.  
  
"Indeed. Ryoko, prepare my bench with supplies for a beta-three reduction," Kagato ordered casually.  
  
Still trembling, Ryoko immediately got to her feet and hurried over to Kagato's work area and began setting things up, her face carefully devoid of any emotion.  
  
"So professor, still thinking of getting that grant in on time, eh?" he asked conversationally, as if nothing odd were happening.  
  
"We need to talk Kagato," Washu ordered, watching Ryoko scurry around with disbelief.  
  
He ignored her. "Ryoko, how many times have I told you not to mix those chemicals? Do it again please," Kagato chided with mild derision. "So. The deadline in next week, right?" he asked conversationally.  
  
Washu nodded mutely, with narrowed eyes. Her student, her cohai, was ignoring her. Her daughter was meekly following his orders with fear so strong Washu could almost smell it. Washu knew it for certain now. Ryoko had been telling the truth.  
  
Kagato walked over to his station and observed the set up. "This will do. Ryoko, take notes." He sat very close to her, the sides of their hips touched.  
  
"Wait."  
  
Kagato turned to face Washu. "Hmmmm?"  
  
"What are you doing?" Washu asked, fury adding sharp edges to her words.  
  
"Why, taking you up on your offer to have Ryoko to be my servant. Though I must say she has been very scarce these last few days. Maybe we should punish her. What do you think?" he asked seriously.  
  
"Ryoko come here. Now," Washu ordered.  
  
Looking hopeful, Ryoko scuttled over to her mother's side. Washu slid a protective arm around her shoulders. "I made no such offer," she said coldly.  
  
"Of course you did. It was in her room. You told her to do whatever I said."  
  
"I didn't mean it like that, and you know it," Washu hissed.  
  
"Do you think it's a bad idea then? I think its high time our little creation earns it's keep, don't you?"  
  
Washu stiffened. "MY DAUGHTER, you mean. You have no claim on her."  
  
"But I was there through her whole creation. I'm just as much her father as you are her mother, if I were to go in for that sort of thing. I have the right to expect certain things of her." He ran his eyes up Ryoko's body as he spoke.  
  
"No!" Ryoko shouted. "Shut-up!"  
  
Washu tightened her hold on Ryoko's shoulders. "Its okay honey." She backed the two of them up to the fixed portal that exited to their home. "Student number 4567691836, you and I will have a talk with the Dean and the Galaxy Police tomorrow morning," she stated coldly as she took herself and Ryoko through the door. "If I were you, I'd already be packed."  
  
***  
  
"You. you believe me?" Ryoko whispered in a broken voice as Washu locked the portal behind them.  
  
Washu sank to her knees and pulled Ryoko into a fierce hug. "Yes, yes, yes. I believe you. I am so sorry. So sorry."  
  
Ryoko hugged back as a scared cry quavered from her lips. "Just don't let him get me. Please!"  
  
Washu rubbed Ryoko's back and made soothing noises. "I promise, honey." There was an awkward pause. "Sweetie. Honey. what did he do to you?" Washu asked, afraid of the answer.  
  
Ryoko buried her head in Washu's neck and avoided the question. "Why didn't you believe me mommy?"  
  
Washu took a long and slow breath and decided not to push right now. "Well, because I was an idiot."  
  
Ryoko pulled back and gave her mother an incredulous look. "What?" she sniffed.  
  
Washu's throat tightened as she wiped the tears from Ryoko's cheeks. "Even the greatest geniuses make stupid mistakes."  
  
"Ka- kagato said you didn't love me anymore," Ryoko whispered as her eyes searched Washu's face. "Do you?"  
  
Washu looked at the pain in Ryoko's eyes and swallowed loudly. She felt her own tears welling in her eyes. "What have I told you about stupid questions?" she asked with mock-sternness.  
  
Ryoko let loose a small smile. "That I couldn't ask them 'till I was in graduate school?"  
  
Washu nodded, a single tear escaping her eyes to slowly run down her cheek. "I've always kept it straight with you, Ryoko. So here's the deal. I trusted Kagato. I trusted you. You were having a chemical imbalance that made you act strangely. So, when you told me something that didn't add up, logic dictated that you were more likely to be wrong than Kagato. You see that right?"  
  
Looking miserable, Ryoko nodded. "But it still. makes me feel.." Her voice was heavy with tears as she trailed off.  
  
Washu drew Ryoko into another embrace. " I know, I know! You were telling me the truth while that bastard was using your condition to trick me. I don't know how I can even ask you to forgive me. My poor little Ryoko, I am so very, very sorry."  
  
"If you still love me, it'll be okay," Ryoko murmured into Washu's hair.  
  
"Oh Sweetie, I love you. More than I can say," Washu choked out.  
  
"What will you do about him?" Ryoko asked, still holding her mother close.  
  
Washu gently pulled away and looked her daughter in the eye. "I will see him expelled for his violations of GA ethical codes. Trying to make you his servant is a direct violation of regulation, with extreme consequences." She paused. "And if there is anything else," she said carefully, "I will see him rot in jail. If I don't kill him myself."  
  
Ryoko suddenly seemed to find the pattern of the carpet very interesting. "Hmm."  
  
The silence was too telling. Washu wanted to be sick, but now was not the time to fall apart. Pretending not to notice Ryoko's shamed expression, Washu scratched her head. "And he knows that I'd kick him out of the GA. I can't imagine why he thought I would just go along with it. Something's not adding up."  
  
"Mom. That thing with my arm. I know Kagato did it. I saw him," Ryoko offered shyly, still half expecting to be disbelieved.  
  
Washu nodded, her eyes far away as she pondered. "That makes sense, but why?"  
  
"Why indeed?" asked an icy calm voice behind them.  
  
Washu spun around. "You!" How did you get in here?"  
  
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Kagato asked, pretending to inspect his nails. "You know, you really should be more careful in the way you lock your doors."  
  
Washu stepped between Kagato and her child. "Get out."  
  
"Not before I claim what is mine. Ryoko. Come. Now."  
  
Washu swept her arm out and opened a portal behind Ryoko. She pushed her daughter into it with a bump of her hip. "Run!" she shouted as the portal closed. She cast a wary eye at her ex-student. "What have you done to my daughter you bastard? I trusted you!"  
  
Kagato quirked a cool eyebrow. "Clever. Hiding her in your subspace network. I guess I can't kill you till we find her then."  
  
Washu backed up. "Kill me?" she squawked. "Kill me?" Things were becoming surreal.  
  
Kagato closed in on the shocked scientist. "Yes. We can't have 'mommy' trying to rescue that poor misbegotten monster of hers."  
  
Washu's mind raced. She had to keep him talking, to find out what he was up to. That was the only way she could solve this dilemma. "Just leave Ryoko alone. What did she ever do to you?"  
  
Kagato smiled, it looked frightening on his otherwise emotionless face. "It's more like what she WILL do for me once I get rid of you. I have spent years putting up with you Washu, while I waited for her to be ready. I'm not giving up now."  
  
Washu backed up, feeling the staircase behind her. She went up one step, still facing him. "She's just a child!"  
  
He paced forward. "A child? Not anymore. She is a beautiful package of chaos and destruction. We both know what she is capable of. There are so many possibilities."  
  
She let him get closer, and pretended to be afraid. She had to keep him talking. "Why now?" Washu blurted out.  
  
"You had to go and give her emotions, professor. I knew those unstable algorithms would arise at puberty. I had to wait it out. Otherwise I would have taken her years ago. Though I must say, some things were worth the wait."  
  
Washu kept climbing the stairs backwards. "I can't believe this."  
  
Assured of his victory, Kagato slowly menaced her. "Oh do. And the sad thing is that she figured it out before you did. I'm really quite ashamed of you professor." He paused and reached into his pocket. "Oh well. After all of the modifications I've made to her system over the years, I'm not surprised she beat you to the punch," he gloated.  
  
"What have you done to her?!"  
  
"Watch." Kagato took a thin rectangle out of his pocket and pressed a button. Somewhere upstairs Ryoko screamed. "Just listen to that. I have access to her nervous system. Sounds painful."  
  
What was Ryoko doing back in the house? Washu kicked at Kagato, trying to distract him. "What have you done to her?!"  
  
"Hacked into her system. All I need from you now is the main OS password."  
  
"Hacked. there is no way."  
  
He pressed the button again, eliciting another scream from Ryoko. "Oh how wrong you are. I was intimately involved in her creation. I saw the 'loopholes' you created for yourself. I imagine you put those access points there so you could get control of her in an emergency, or at least incapacitate her."  
  
Still backing up the stairs, Washu shook her head in disbelief. "How did you find those things?"  
  
"You have underestimated me far too long, my mentor. I've tired of it. It ends now." He lunged forward to grab her.  
  
Washu popped out of the dimension before his fingers could touch her, but she could hear his snarl and subsequent shouted threat to Ryoko before the dimensional pocket closed around her.  
  
***  
  
. Sitting on the hard wooden chair in Tenchi's bedroom, Washu rubbed her temples. "And the rest you know from Ryoko's first memory, the one entire household saw in their dreams." It was getting late now, and the soft sounds of tree frog song drifted in through the open window.  
  
Still sitting by Ryoko on the bed, Tenchi rubbed his palm over her hand while she slept. "I don't know what to say Washu."  
  
Washu shrugged. "What's to say? It was a terrible time for Ryoko and me." She half-lowered her eyelids. "And it was my fault."  
  
"Washu," Tenchi began tiredly. "Don't you think it's more complicated than that?"  
  
The scientist's lips curled up into a snarl. "Do you know what he did to her? What he did to my baby girl?"  
  
Tenchi nodded soberly. "She told me."  
  
"I don't mean the crimes, you idiot. He tortured her in mind, body, and soul." She looked up at him with tear filled eyes. "He - he."  
  
"Touched her," Tenchi said quietly, sparing Washu from finishing the sentence.  
  
Screwing her eyes shut, Washu sucked in a gasp of air. "You knew?"  
  
"She told me," Tenchi repeated. "She was afraid I wouldn't love her anymore."  
  
"She's such a foolish girl," Washu laughed shakily, opening her eyes and running an index finger under them to catch the tears.  
  
"Yeah, there is nothing that would make me stop loving her," Tenchi said, giving Ryoko's hand a squeeze.  
  
"Thank you Tenchi," Washu said, getting to her feet. "You have saved Ryoko from her past, when no one else could." She walked over and wrapped her arms around him in a gentle hug.  
  
"God, it's worse than watching a soap opera in here," Ryoko croaked.  
  
Releasing Tenchi, Washu leaned over and peered at her daughter. "How are you feeling?"  
  
Ryoko squinted up at Washu and Tenchi with bleary eyes. "Drunk," was the bald reply.  
  
"I can't say I blame you," Washu returned, brushing Ryoko's bangs out her eyes.  
  
"Tenchi?" Ryoko asked.  
  
"I'm here too."  
  
"I know. Where is the scrapbook?"  
  
"It's broken," Washu cut in. "That last set must have been too emotional for its circuits." She smiled hopefully at Tenchi and crossed her fingers behind her back.  
  
"What the hell are you talking about? Emotions can't blow out a circuit?" Ryoko whined, holding her head.  
  
"Your's could," Washu muttered.  
  
"We destroyed it," Tenchi admitted, honest to a fault, as Washu rolled her eyes at him.  
  
"Tenchiii, I wasn't done."  
  
Tenchi leaned over his love and caressed her face. "Do you really want to remember the horrible things that monster did to you?"  
  
"I already remember," she whimpered. "Every day."  
  
"And how is reliving it for me going to make it hurt less?" he asked earnestly. "Just let it go."  
  
Washu climbed on to the bed and over Ryoko so she was on the side opposite of Tenchi. "Please let go. Give me a chance to be a good mother now. I don't want you to remember me that way," she implored, rubbing Ryoko's back.  
  
"My head hurts," Ryoko moaned. "I need a drink."  
  
"Ryoko," Washu pleaded. "Please be serious."  
  
"My head seriously hurts. I don't care what you did to the damn scrapbook. Just get me a drink!" she demanded.  
  
Washu's look of consternation faded into a motherly smile. In her own, singular way, Ryoko was trying to spare her mother any more painful discussions. "Okay." Washu reached into a dimensional pocket and withdrew a glass tumbler of water. She handed it to her daughter.  
  
Ryoko took a sip. "Water?! Ha, ha, very funny!" she snarled. Washu leapt off the bed with a cackle. "It's called tough love Sweetie pie!" she called as she zipped out of the room while the getting was good.  
  
Ryoko smiled, and took a long drink of the water. "This is just what I needed. I am really dehydrated. But I don't need to admit that to her!"  
  
Tenchi chuckled and ran a hand through her hair. "You ought to be after six bottles of sake."  
  
Ryoko scooted to a seated position and finished the rest of the water. She let the glass hang loosely from her fingers. "You guys are right." She paused after that, staring at the wall.  
  
Tenchi stayed silent, knowing that sometimes Ryoko required time to get her thoughts together.  
  
"Putting my memories in the scrapbook was different form just remembering them. It was like reliving them." She leaned her head against the bed's headboard. "Follow me?"  
  
Tenchi nodded, scooting closer to her so she felt supported.  
  
"At first it was fun. The good times with mom and all. But, seeing how early Kagato started making his move. it took the fun away."  
  
"Yeah," Tenchi agreed.  
  
"And these last few were just horrible." Her voice quavered a little, but grew strong again. "I know what happens next, and next and next for the following thousands of years. I don't want to relive it. You were right, Tenchi."  
  
"You don't have to do anything you don't want to do anymore," Tenchi promised.  
  
"No more dishes, or laundry, or toilet cleaning?" Ryoko asked sounding half- hopeful and half-teasing.  
  
Tenchi gathered Ryoko into his arms and kissed her neck. "You don't have to be so tough all the time."  
  
"Mmm. I'm used to it," she sighed sinking into his warmth.  
  
Tenchi kissed lightly up Ryoko's neck and jaw line, then pulled back so he could look her in the eye. "I want you feel safe with me."  
  
Ryoko snuggled in closer. "I feel safe."  
  
"Then don't hide from me," he whispered in her ear.  
  
She tilted her head so she could look him in the eyes. "I'm doing my best. It's not easy for me when I remember those days."  
  
He nodded and began nibbling on her ear. "Then, lets make some new memories right now." He wanted to push those awful memories out of both of their minds and replace them with loving thoughts.  
  
"Tenchi, not now, I have a headache."  
  
He pulled back and looked at her with an incredulous smile. "You what?"  
  
"No, I really have a headache! Honest!"  
  
He still stared. She had never turned him down before.  
  
"Ten-chan!" she giggled. "I had six bottles of Sake two hours ago. I really do have a headache!" Her giggles turned to pained laughter and she clutched at her head while she laughed at the confounded expression on his face.  
  
Soon he joined in, his laughter dancing with hers as the happy sound chased the remaining sadness from the room.  
  
  
  
The End.. of Mementos! Thanks for reading!  
  
A/N I hope you all enjoyed this little experiment of mine. For those of you who don't like my spin on Kagato, I'm sorry you are so upset, but not sorry for writing as I did. We all bring our own histories and biases to our writing, and one of mine seems to be the amplification of the villains. When I was writing "Daria" fanfics, my version of Daria's mother, Helen, was really twisted. But that's just who I am and how I write. And I think such individuality on the author's parts is a blessing. Otherwise we would be reading cookie-cutter fanfics with no variety at all. Peace to you all! Smooooooch! 


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